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CPR and AED Certification for Coaches, Camp Staff, and Athletic Departments

SidelineOps offers hands-on CPR and AED certification for coaching staffs, camp counselors, athletic departments, and recreation staff across North Carolina — brought directly to your facility, scheduled around your season. Participants complete the course and receive an official certification card covering adult, child, and infant CPR, AED operation, choking response, and emergency recognition. This is the practical, group-format certification your staff needs before the season starts — led by an American Red Cross BLS Instructor.

What the certification covers

Every SidelineOps CPR/AED certification session is a hands-on course — not a video with a quiz at the end. Participants work through the skills in person, using mannequins and training AEDs, so each person finishes with real repetitions behind them, not just a card.

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The course covers:

  • Adult, child, and infant CPR — proper technique, depth, and rate for each age group

  • AED operation — how to power on, place pads, and follow the device prompts in sequence

  • Two-rescuer CPR — coordinating chest compressions and rescue breathing with a partner

  • Choking response — conscious and unconscious choking in adults and children

  • Emergency recognition — identifying the signs of sudden cardiac arrest, respiratory distress, and unresponsiveness so action starts before a second is lost

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Upon completion, each participant receives an official certification card. Certification is valid for two years.

Why group, on-site certification makes sense

Sending staff to an off-site certification class on their own schedule sounds simple. In practice, it means chasing down proof of completion from 20 people during pre-season, rescheduling around conflicts, and ending up with coaches certified on different dates — and different expiration dates — going into the season.

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Group, on-site certification solves all of that. One session, one location, one expiration cycle for the whole staff. SidelineOps comes to your facility at a time that fits your pre-season calendar. Sessions are available in evenings, weekends, or back-to-back with an all-staff meeting so certification doesn't cost your coaches a separate day.

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For summer camps, on-site certification before opening day means every counselor has a current card in hand before a single camper arrives — not a plan to get certified during the summer.

Who leads the session

Every session is led by Anna Sundy, MS, MPS, LAT, ATC — a licensed and board-certified athletic trainer currently working full-time in a K-12 school athletic setting. Anna holds certifications from a nationally recognized provider and teaches CPR in the context of athletic emergencies, not a general workplace safety course.

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That difference matters. Coaches and camp staff spend their time in gyms, on practice fields, and at pools — not in office buildings. The scenarios, the equipment, and the priorities in those settings are specific. A session led by someone who works in them every day reflects that.

How it connects to the bigger picture

CPR certification is the floor, not the ceiling. A coach who knows how to perform CPR and operate an AED is prepared to take the first critical steps in a cardiac emergency. What most athletic programs are missing is the layer above that: a written, venue-specific Emergency Action Plan that names who calls 911, who retrieves the AED, who meets the ambulance, and who takes over compression rotations — for every venue, for every event.

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For organizations that are booking CPR/AED certification and don't yet have a complete EAP in place, the free EAP Readiness Call is a natural next step. It is a 20-minute conversation to see where your program stands and whether EAP Development or a Staff Training session makes sense alongside the certification.

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For organizations that already have a plan, pairing CPR certification with the full Staff Training and EAP Drill session is the most complete pre-season preparation available: staff leave certified, rehearsed, and clear on their specific role.

Who this is for

SidelineOps CPR/AED certification is built for:

  • Athletic departments — coaching staffs required to hold current CPR/AED certification as a condition of employment or NFHS coach requirements

  • Summer camps — counselors and program staff who need certification before opening day

  • Recreation leagues and clubs — volunteer coaches, staff, and program coordinators who want their people prepared for the sideline

  • Schools without a staff athletic trainer — administrators who need their coaching staff certified and cannot lean on an in-house AT to run the training

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Sessions accommodate groups of 6 to 20 participants. Larger staffs can be split into back-to-back sessions scheduled the same day.

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