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March 5, 2025 13 mins

What makes Cori Russell with Finish Strong CPR & Medical Training, LLC a good neighbor?

Imagine being a bystander during a life-changing emergency and realizing the power of knowing CPR and first aid. That's exactly what propelled Cori Russell into the field of medical training, and on the Good Neighbor Podcast, he shares his compelling journey. With over two decades of experience, Cori discusses the crucial importance of comprehensive CPR and first aid skills, particularly in today's world where cardiac and respiratory issues are increasingly prevalent post-COVID. Unpacking common misconceptions, Cori explains why incorporating breaths is essential, despite the popularity of hands-only CPR, and emphasizes how proper training can significantly boost survival chances in emergencies.

In our business spotlight, Cori sheds light on the impactful mission of Finish Strong CPR and Medical Training. He emphasizes the value of community engagement and how listeners can get involved with their initiatives. As your host, I express heartfelt gratitude for Cori's insightful contributions and extend best wishes for his company’s ongoing success. We also encourage you to support local businesses and guide you on nominating your favorites for future episodes. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that could empower you with life-saving skills and reinforce the significance of community support.


To learn more about Finish Strong CPR & Medical Training, LLC go to:
https://finishstrongcpr.com/

Finish Strong CPR & Medical Training, LLC

772-444-8645

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Benjamin John.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast once again.
Hey, are you in the market forsome medical training from a
professional?
Well, there's someone who Ijust was introduced to who might
be closer than you think inhelping you with that.
So today I have the pleasure ofintroducing Corey Russell with
Finish Strong, cpr and MedicalTraining.

(00:32):
How are you doing, corey?

Speaker 3 (00:34):
I'm doing wonderful.
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Good, good, yeah, absolutely.
The pleasure is mine and Iappreciate you making the time
to come on here and share alittle bit of your story and
what your business specializesin and how people can get a hold
of you.
So let's just start there.
Can you tell us about FinishStrong CPR and medical training?

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yes, we are a company local to the Treasure Coast.
We have a location in Palm Citywhere we teach classes out of
our conference room in Palm Citywhere we teach classes out of
our conference room, and thenwe're also mobile and on-site at
local businesses teaching CPRcertifications, first aid
certifications and a variety ofother medical courses, and we

(01:16):
love it.
We have very hands-on emphasiswith our students and keep it
very engaging, and everyinstructor has a medical
background of 10 plus years,plus all of us are educators as
well, so we know how to teachreally well.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Okay, that's amazing and I don't think I got to tell
people and emphasize that thisis a very much needed thing.
I think most people should knowhow to do some of these things
and, admittingly, I've nevertaken a CPR class, but you
having you on the show remindedme the importance of that and I
should probably get that donesoon.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
I'm an advocate for that.
I've heard the same about ourchoking daughter before.
She choked on a frozen grapeand I remember that was a really
serious endeavor, and chokingcan lead to a cardiac issue if
not treated.
So it's just anyone in our life, whether around a kid or around
a colleague, who's like, oh,choking or having heart issues.

(02:18):
It really is everywhere.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
And since COVID it seems that there's a higher
incidence of heart attacks,rescue, breathing, like
asthmatic issues and things thatI think might be stemming from
having that type of illnesspreparation, because you just

(02:45):
never know when some of thesethings happen, and being
unprepared is where the riskscomes in, and having someone
who's trained, like yourself andthe people that you train, kind
of eliminates the possibilitiesof the worst case scenario
happening.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
It's kind of how I got startedwas there was an emergency and
that's kind of part of my story,of why I even became an
instructor 20 years ago and soit really made an impact on me.
It wasn't until that situationthat I took it seriously as well
, and I was, you know, emergencymedical provider at the time,
so I'd taken a couple classes,but it's pretty serious.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, well, that was my next question, so maybe you
can elaborate on that.
I was gonna ask you how did youget into this business?

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, so I got into it.
I was actually a sports medic,for you know I had a career of
about two decades and in thatfirst job I worked in
professional tennis and one ofour staff members experienced we
didn't know at the time astroke, and he was out on the
tennis courts, out by where theSony Erickson was played far

(03:47):
court, because he was using claycourts and the ball bounces a
little slower.
So you know he's a little olderand I responded to that.
Someone said hey, corey,there's an emergency, grabbed my
arm, ran out there and I had noidea what kind of emergency.
I didn't have.
Our AD on us are automatedexternal defibrillator and we
were doing CPR and you know itwas a devastating incident.

(04:10):
It was a coach I worked veryclose with and it just changed
my whole life in that moment andthe next week I became an
instructor just because of theimpact of wanting to be able to
teach classes that you knowwould bring people to a better
level than what I felt I wasprepared for as someone who took
a couple classes and justdidn't get that hands-on
experience.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, I can see how that would kind of set you on
the trajectory to go down thepath that you did and I'm happy
to hear that something traumaticyou were able to convert into
something more positive and kindof help people who may be in a
similar situation that you arewith that being unprepared, and

(04:53):
help them get prepared forsomething like that in case it
does.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah, that's our goal .
I was just teaching people thismorning and, with that same
thought process, they were likeyou know, I've taken a lot of
classes, this one's a littledifferent and I was like our
children live in this community.
We're Treasure Coast residents.
We want to see people survive,we want to see people have a
better chance at survival, and Ibelieve everybody can make a

(05:17):
difference in someone's life inthat way.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
I agree.
Couldn't agree more.
Okay, so are there any myths ormisconceptions in that industry
?

Speaker 3 (05:29):
There are and I really want to highlight a major
one that, especially since thepandemic, I come across a lot of
students who will be like youknow, I don't need to give the
breaths.
We do compressions and breathsand with the pandemic, you know,
everyone just kind of was like,hey, hands-only CPR, that is
one major.
You know, public awareness push.
But you know that is one major.
You know public awareness push.
But you know, as we want toincrease chances of survival

(05:53):
using a face shield thatprotects you I'm all about
bloodborne pathogen protectionWe'll allow you to still give
breaths because eventually thatperson is going to need oxygen,
oxygenated blood.
We start out with some becausebefore someone passed out they
were breathing and there'soxygenated blood there.
But you know, throughout thetime that you might be doing

(06:14):
your five to 10 minutes of CPR,whatever amount of time it is,
the breaths are still veryimportant and can increase
success and chances of survivalsignificantly.
So I just want to put that outthere.
For people is you know, don'tjust push.
If you get trained, learn howto do the right rhythm of
compressions and also give thosevery vital breaths.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Okay.
Yeah, it's an important messageand I'm glad you broke it down
technically.
Okay.
So who are your targetcustomers and how do you attract
them?

Speaker 3 (06:48):
Well, most of the time we do.
We can gain a lot more tractionif we're training.
You know a bigger group ofpeople and we find that teams
that work the best together arestaff members at local
businesses and families and youknow groups of people so we
bring our services to someonelike as if we're doing a staff
training, and those are a lot ofour target clients and it's

(07:11):
really anyone who's trying toincrease their emergency
preparedness, from a churchgroup all the way to another
extreme of construction workerswho are going to need that OSHA
and CPR first aid certificationevery some number of years.
Usually the CPR is about everytwo years.
We really focus on people whoare non-medical and need it for

(07:32):
their industry or family membersand church groups and schools
and such like that as well.
But we do provide weeklyclasses that are for basic life
support, that are for ourmedical providers as well.
We just do those on site at ourown location in Palm City.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Okay, yeah, I can see that being more of a
group-based type service andattraction for companies and
then, for obvious reasons,companies that maybe have some
type of risks involved.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, definitely, especially since we do a lot of
team hands-on training and wheretwo or three people are
assisting with the rescue.
It makes it very realistic tothe situation that I was in that
I explained earlier, where oneperson I started responding
someone else is calling 9-1-1.
We're having someone run to goget the AED flag down an

(08:22):
ambulance it's.
It takes a team and you know,teamwork makes the dream.
Work is one of my favoritemottos that I use all the time
and in this situation it reallydoes help.
If you're not by yourself andwe prepare people for that
situation, it's the worst casescenario, but teamwork really
does change the outcomesignificantly.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, that makes sense and I can see with the
team you can role play it kindof like you just described, to
like a real life scenario.
Very cool, all right.
So outside of work, what do youlike to do for fun?

Speaker 3 (08:56):
I'm an athlete since I was five years old when my dad
put me in martial artstaekwondo so I find that very
therapeutic and I love nature.
So, me and my family, we liketo go surfing.
You'll catch me on two wheelsmore often than four, so I like
to be out on the mountain bikeor road bike, um, or motorcycle,

(09:17):
any of those, um, get me outand refresh me gears on you a
little bit here and I'm going toask is there a hardship you
know, other than you've alreadyexplained a couple of them?

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Have you ever went through a hardship or a life
challenge that changed you ormade you stronger?

Speaker 3 (09:40):
Definitely.
I think one of the toughesttimes that I had, you know, both
physically and mentally, as Iwas growing up as a teenager,
was earning my black belt inTaekwondo.
There's, you know, certainstipulations each dojo or each
you know place has, but mine wasthat you had to break a brick,

(10:01):
one of those like garden size,two, three inch bricks.
And I was 13 when I earned myfirst degree black belt and you
know it was just nerve wracking,the patience you know I didn't
have it then and perseveranceand resilience, and so it just
took a lot of practice and beingable to earn my black belt, go
through all the testing.

(10:21):
It was a lot and I am.
I think it defined me as aperson.
It helped me become moredisciplined, it helped me to
persevere and not give up when Iprobably would have have, and I

(10:43):
see that as shaping me into theperson I am the mom, the spouse
I am and the just really theteacher I am.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Very cool.
Yeah, it's a very fascinatingstory and I like I like that as
far as how it helped and shapedyou and contributed to you know
your yourself as an adult andlife in general.
Very cool story.
Okay, corey, tell our listenersone thing they should remember
about finish strong CPR andmedical training.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
I think the biggest thing is you know our slogan,
which is we're here to createsafer communities.
You know, our goal isn't justto get you in a class and have
you earn a certification only.
We really want our community toearn a certification only.
We really want our community tobe a safer place.
We want people to be confidentin their skills as they learn
them and really be able to feellike they can act, whether
they're the one who calls 911 orthey're the one actually

(11:30):
responding and doing somecompressions.
You know everyone has a role toplay.
Everyone has strengths andweaknesses.
So I'd like you know listeners,to just remember that even if
you think you're not strongenough or you have arthritis or
you hurt your arm, you know youcan play a role that is just as
impactful, because I believerunning to go get the AD is is
half the battle right there,because without that we can't

(11:52):
save someone who has cardiacarrest.
So that job is just asimportant as the person doing
compressions, and I think peopleforget that and they're like oh
, I can't do that, you know.
But you can do something.
And you know, come get trainedand find out what, what you're
good at and you know.
That way you can feel confidentand help create a safer
community with us.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
I like that.
I like that upliftingencouragement and such a
positive message and awarenessin that statement Very cool, all
right.
So how can our listeners learnmore about finish strong CPR and
medical training?

Speaker 3 (12:28):
I think a great place to start is, you know, getting
on our website a lot of our redclass registrations.
Just go right there.
They can find out, you know,about myself or other
instructors.
They on the website has ouroffice number that they can call
if they have questions andwe'll direct them in whichever
way we can.
But finish strong CPR dot comis our website, so that would

(12:51):
probably be the best place to tolearn more about us and what
we're all about.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
OK, very good.
Well, corey, I want to thankyou for jumping on here, taking
the time and bringing awarenessto you know your company and you
know what you do is veryimportant, so I'm glad that
we're getting more exposure andhow people can get involved with
what you got going on, and wewish you and the best going
forward for the company.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
Thank you, benjamin, and it was really a pleasure and
honor to be able to come andspeak.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
All right, take care.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
Bye-bye.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPPortStLucycom.
That's GNPPortStLucycom, orcall 772-303-1036.
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