Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Witz.
Joe, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2011, I graduated from Robert Morris University majoring in Business Administration. I thoroughly enjoyed business but I didn’t think it was solely what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I packed my things and moved to a small town in Kendall County to become a Volunteer EMT Firefighter. Soon after, I went to paramedic school. In 2014, I was hired as a full-time firefighter/paramedic in town that borders Chicago’s west side.
While working as a firefighter/paramedic I became an American Heart Association BLS Instructor. That is when I knew I had an opportunity to combine my passion for business and my emergency services training together. In June of 2016, at the age of 25, I created Illinois Safety and in July we hosted our first class.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest struggle we have encountered has been acquiring larger businesses. Most businesses that require CPR or other training for their employees already have a company in place and on the schedule that they use over and over again. Finding a way into these businesses is key-sometimes it’s a scheduling conflict with their current company or the need for a last minute class. Getting our foot in the door with larger scale businesses and being able to train a larger number of employees definitely benefits us at the end of the day.
Please tell us about Illinois Safety.
A majority of our classes are teaching American Heart Association courses for medical providers and students. We also teach very basic classes for the everyday person with no medical training as well as more advanced classes like Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS).
We are most proud of being composed of all firefighters and paramedics. When we first started teaching we were finding out a majority of American Heart Association instructors had no medical training at all. We are known for giving you honest and realistic training. We teach topics that we know because it’s our job to know. You won’t find us teaching yoga!
We can also adapt our classes to obstacles that might occur at a specific business. We just started teaching blended courses. Blended courses are comprised of a majority of the class being completed online and then a small amount of time spent in the classroom practicing hands-on skills. These classes are especially a hit with our nursing students.
Instead of spending over three hours in a classroom they can complete a majority of the class at their own pace when they have the time and then come in for a quick hands-on skills class. Having options like these sets our company apart from others.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I definitely would’ve started teaching earlier in my career. If bystander CPR is not provided, a sudden cardiac arrest victim’s chances of survival fall 7 percent to 10 percent for every minute of delay until defibrillation. The first few minutes of CPR are the most critical.
As rescuers, we can only do so much if CPR was not performed until rescuers get to the patient. We’re trying to spread the message of bystander CPR and how simple it is to perform.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.illinoissafety.com
- Email: info@illinoissafety.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/illinoissafety
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