Culver Where in the World

Dec 7, 2017

Educating, empowering, and equipping in Kenya

Bob Culver 96AA had been teaching basic and advanced CPR courses across the country when he was invited to Kenya to provide instruction at Kenya Medical Training College. During one of his first sessions, a participant raised his hand and asked, “What do you do if you don’t have a defibrillator?” The question stopped Culver in his tracks. “I thought, ‘What do you do?” he said.

CPRBOB (as he is known worldwide), works as an American Heart Association instructor and a part-time anesthetist for the Wellstar Health System. Upon further questioning of his class of Kenya anesthetists, he discovered that many hospital operating rooms in Africa lacked this essential piece of equipment for successful resuscitation.

So Emory grad Culver returned home to Atlanta and started the CPRBobCares Foundation to, in the words of its mission statement, educate, empower, and equip. For education, the foundation provides training and financial support as the Kenya medical community begins to establish AHA training programs. CPRBOB and his team provide the instruction of both professional and non-professional personnel in recognition, response, and reassessment for sudden cardiac arrest.

To empower, the foundation developed instructor training programs. Currently the Foundation’s team is training instructors in Africa for the Kenya Medical Training College, the country’s professional anesthesia societies (NACOA & KSA) and Smile Train.org, an international charity that provides assistance to children with cleft lip and palate. These instructors can then provide CPR training in medical facilities throughout Africa. Culver is also working with local partners to establish a CPR training center in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.

And to equip, the foundation aims to provide defibrillators, manikins, and other supplies to medical facilities that need them. Last year, CPRBobCares.org sent six defibrillators, and one recipient, Dr Mary Mwangi,reported the device had already been used four times. The Foundation hopes to double the number they can send this year.

Teaching a man to fish without providing a fishing pole is similar to teaching CPR without having a defibrillator to restore normal heart rhythm.

CAN YOU PROVIDE A QUOTE TO END THE PIECE? MAYBE SOMETHING LIKE I NEVER DREAMED I’D BE WORKING IN AFRICA, BUT NOW THAT I HAVE, I CONSIDER IT THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY CAREER. OR SOMETIME TO SUM UP YOU EXPERIENCES IN AFRICA. THANKS!