SUCCESS STORY | DAMON LARIVIERE Achieving healthy success

LaRiviere combined his first-aid expertise with his love of teaching.
By MARY ELLEN PELLEGRINI
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
After ten years of working in emergency care, Damon LaRiviere wanted to prevent injuries, not just treat them. He combined his expertise in first aid with his love of teaching to establish ProTrain LLC, a Girard-based health care and industry compliance training center.
ProTrain conducts federally mandated OSHA health and safety training for over 90 Northeast Ohio organizations including nursing homes, medical offices, child care facilities, businesses, manufacturers, schools and government LaRiviere said. The facility also offers a variety of first-aid classes for the general public. LaRiviere's knowledge, entertaining approach and use of the latest technology attract clients to his programs.
"Ever since I was a kid, I liked doing first aid," he said. When he moved to the Mahoning Valley after high school graduation, that interest drew LaRiviere to the paramedicine program at Youngstown State University. He completed the advanced EMT training at YSU and received Ohio certification.
LaRiviere began his career with American Ambulance and soon after added a position as an emergency assistant at St. Elizabeth Health Center. At the hospital, the EMT "assisted nurses, physicians and the trauma team, did initial treatment of patients, worked in the cast room, did heart monitoring, EKGs and blood work."
He gave up both positions when he went to Clemente Ambulance Service. There he was assigned to the ambulance and the public relations division. "Part of the public relations was CPR and first-aid classes, and that's where I started teaching," said LaRiviere.
Continuing his career
An opportunity to focus solely on teaching led him to the Complient Corporation in Cleveland. "That's where I learned all the OSHA regulations. There are hundreds of different classes that are mandated by OSHA," he noted. Initially LaRiviere made the daily commute to Cleveland and presented training sessions in the metro area.
"That company honed my skills to become a better instructor. I also learned how to run the business end because I really didn't understand the business behind the training," he said.
As the corporation grew, its clientele spread across the country. LaRiviere found himself flying throughout the United States and Puerto Rico conducting seminars for Fortune 500 companies. "I loved the work but wanted to get off the road. I wanted to work locally and be home with my family," he said.
With his wife's support, LaRiviere drafted a proposal for ProTrain. "The idea was to work out of the home first. I wanted to start slow, build the business correctly, and not grow outside of our means. Then once there were enough clients go ahead and move to an office," explained LaRiviere. He attributes the company's success to strong organizational skills and adherence to the business plan.
Current status
Less than a year and a half into the venture, LaRiviere moved into his present office. The new space affords two options for training sessions -- the specially designed conference room at ProTrain or the client's place of business.
LaRiviere employs 14 part-time instructors to maintain a 1-10 teacher-student ratio for all training sessions. And he follows a hands-on approach to enhance students' understanding of the material. "We provide one mannequin per student when we teach CPR," he said. "I try to give them a real positive experience about taking these courses." During one recent session LaRiviere and his staff accommodated 120 participants for CPR training.
A unique part of LaRiviere's CPR curriculum involves a relatively new piece of equipment, the AED, or automated external defibrillation. "In cardiac arrest where people go into lethal heart arrhythmias, there is a 3 to 5 percent chance of survival with CPR alone but a 92 percent survival rate with defibrillation done in the first minute," he said. Proper use of the AED enables even the lay rescuer to perform defibrillation and save lives, the trainer said.
"All major airports, all major league stadiums have AEDs," LaRiviere noted. In addition to CPR students, he instructed the employees of several professional stadiums on utilization of this technology.
Other programs
Though CPR is the most requested class, LaRiviere also presents seminars on bloodborne pathogens, basic first aid, in-depth first aid, hazardous-waste training, electrical safety, forklift driver safety, machinery maintenance safeguards and a host of other mandated programs.
Instruction consists of safety procedures, new government regulations plus employee/employer rights and responsibilities.
"I do a lot of Saturday and evening classes because companies are closed then and not missing production," said LaRiviere.
In addition to health care training, LaRiviere also assesses company training programs and Exposure Control Policies when requested.
"I look at the program and ECP to determine whether they're doing too much, too little or are up to par," he said. An inadequate training program brings hefty fines from OSHA, according to LaRiviere.
"It's cheaper to do training and apply safety procedures than to be found out of compliance."
Success for LaRiviere is the flexibility of making his own schedule, teaching often, maintaining his customer base and seeing individuals adopt prevention strategies and enhance their first-aid skills. "The more people we teach to do these things, the better off we are as a society," he said.