Office Managers, Business Owners and CEOs know that their most important assets are the people they employ. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle in today’s busy workplaces, but keeping the company culture and camaraderie intact remains a crucial goal.

One way that managers and owners have grown to adopt as a solution for keeping the staff happy, interactive and productive is Team Building. Sometimes it’s best to conduct Team Building exercises focused purely on having fun and taking a break from work. As long as the company crew is together, almost any activity will work. It doesn’t hurt to even add a little friendly competition to the mix.

However, it’s also important to plan more purposeful activities for Team Building. The idea we’re discussing today falls into this category, and offers a unique experience that will empower you and your staff with undeniably valuable skills: CPR and First Aid Training.

While First Aid and CPR skills will enable everyone on your staff to potentially save a life in the event of an emergency, this training has other additional benefits not readily apparent on the surface. One such example of these hidden benefits is added confidence.

Most people only have minimal knowledge of first aid and emergency rescue measures and virtually no experience handling emergent situations. As a result, the usual response to such an incident is panic. It’s not uncommon for untrained people to freeze up, become mentally clouded and sometimes even faint.

Business Owners - Don't Pass Up This Amazing Team Building Idea

The confidence you gain from CPR and First Aid training is almost equally important to the skills themselves. Learning how to handle emergencies in a calm, collected and organized manner allows us to more efficiently apply the care needed and to quickly abate any further hazard or harm that could arise on the scene.

The American Red Cross has highly qualified training professionals that will come to your workplace and offer these invaluable lessons. Upon completion and passing a test at the conclusion of the training, everyone who participates will receive an official certification in CPR and First Aid.

During the training sessions, your staff will work closely with each other on an interactive basis. This is time well spent as a Team Building exercise because the social factor is still a part of the activity.

Furthermore, you and your staff will learn proactive and preventative safety techniques. Learning to recognize hazardous situations before they occur may prove just as much a life-saving skill as CPR. While it is everyone’s most earnest hope that we’ll never have to use these skills, we should all still prepare.

At Water Waves, we believe every single person who is capable of performing First Aid and CPR be trained with these skills. We know that’s a lofty goal, but it’s more easily accomplished when trainees help spread the word. Make sure to tell your friends, family and co-workers about your experience once you’ve completed your training.

Clay Adams is an aquatics and lifestyle blogger for “WaterWaves”