Emergency and Safety Training Facility Opens in Castro Valley

You won't have to travel far to learn how to do CPR.

The Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday afternoon for , a facility promoting emergency and safety awareness for employers, health care professionals and individuals.

Mother-daughter owners Brendalyn "Val" Bilotti and Katrina Huaman opened the facility in their hometown of Castro Valley recently.

"It just makes sense," Bilotti said. "This is home."

Clients have come as far as Sacramento to take their classes, which Bilotti said are hands-on, reality-based training sessions. By using chest-rising CPR manikins, Bilotti said "you visually get the positive feedback from the interventions you perform."

"The most unfortunate thing is for someone to feel helpless or hopeless in a medical emergency," said Bilotti, who has nearly 30 years of health education and medical training under her belt.

Among the many courses taught, Huaman said CPR classes are the most popular. They are the cheapest, ranging from $60 to $75 while Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) classes can cost up to $200.

"It's such a great skill to know," Huaman said. "It's an easy skill that can save a life. It's that care before the paramedics get there."

For the past year, Bilotti and Huaman held training sessions out of hotel and corporation conference rooms for their clientele. However, they wanted to open up their business to individuals as well.

Bilotti said they try their best to cater to their clientele. If classes aren't listed under their online calendar, folks can ask to have it added.

For every nine students, there is one instructor to ensure each person gets adequate attention. Fifteen instructors help teach the various courses.

"If we have a real high demand for a class, we can always bring in another instructor," Huaman said.

Though the hours of each course vary, Bilotti said she is willing to stay as long as possible to make sure clients leave feeling confident. She said she once spent two extra hours with a student just to make sure she passed.

"You have to be able to rescue me in order for me to pass you," she said.

Certificates usually last for two years. Bilotti said mostly all of her clients have returned to renew their certificates.

QUEST also sells medical and training supplies such as first aid kits and airway and oxygen therapy equipment.

For more information on QUEST or to register for classes, visit its website at www.questnorcal.com call 510-537-SAFE (7233).