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American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter
Categories: Health and Medical Local Services Community Service/Non-Profit Health and Medical, Community Service/Non-Profit [Edit]
3901 Broadway(between 38th St & 40th St)
Oakland, CA 94611
Neighborhood: North Oakland
(510) 595-4400
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 9 am - 5 pm
- By Appointment Only:
- No
8 reviews for American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter
8 reviews in English
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Review from Rachel H.
El Cerrito, CA
8/18/2010
I went to the Oakland Red Cross last week to get my CPR certification. My Dad, Willy F., also got certified. It was good that he was there so that I could pinch his inner arm anytime someone said something stupid.
I was expecting this to be a horrible, long day, but it was not. The class moved along at a nice clip, without much chance for the stupids to take hold and ask all their stupid questions. Our instructor, Jon Gourdine, was excellent. He really knows his stuff, and seemed to be really happy to be there, which, as a teacher myself, I know goes a really long way. If there's anyway to make sure he's your instructor, I would recommend that.
As a mother, I had a very hard time with our unconscious baby dummy. I had a hard time getting through the baby CPR stuff without tearing up imagining my own baby being in trouble.
There is free coffee and a fluorescently lit eating area with tables and vending machines. I would recommend packing a lunch, like we did. We only had a half an hour for lunch, so it was nice not to have to spend part of that time going to buy something.
I needed a place to pump my boobs, and so did another woman in the group. Jon found us a lovely cubicle in back of an office.
CPR is tiring. The muscles in the backs of my legs were sore the next day. If you only take one piece of advice from this review, it should be this: Don't stand up too fast after practicing your rescue breathing. I saw stars a few times. You wouldn't want a roomful of people who just learned CPR watch you go down. -
Review from Artiom G.
Oakland, CA
3/13/2012
What?!?!?!
That is weird!
Yelp filtered two 1 star reviews for these guys.
My girlfriend was so upset with this chapter of American Red Cross, that she asked me to repost her review again. So I'm gladly doing it.
I hate businesses that waste your time, especially if they are non profit.
I just don't understand how you can treat a volunteer with such a disrespect.
Here is my girlfriends review:
I am new to the area so I decided to join Oakland Red Cross.
I was a Red Cross volunteer for 5 years in my homecountry and since I've moved to California, I had the wish to continue volunteering because it's something that I like and makes me happy and I enjoy it.
I've scheduled an orientation at the Oakland Red Cross (even though I know ALL about values, history and principles of the Red Cross, even though I finished courses in CPR, Disaster Management, held many workshops myself and organized camps for children without parents, etc, etc... I held those orientations to new volunteers in my country actually). Despite all that, I still wanted to go through the basic training.
The orientation was scheduled for 1pm today. SInce I'm new to the area (like I mentioned), I didn't realize it's so far from the Bart on 19th street so I ended up walking for 35 mins (21 block!!!), caring my heavy purse and my coat. Not to mention that I left my classes in the school I'm attending early so I could come to the orientation.
I arrived at 1.10pm (10 mins late) and the receptionist was like "Sorry, you are late, we don't let anyone in, you have to schedule a new orientation". I couldn't believe it and left VERY disapointed. Not to mention that my boyfriend was supposed to pick me up at 4pm (when orientation was suppose to end) so I ended up paying for a taxi home at 1.15pm and he was shocked when he heard they wouldn't let me in.
I realize it was my fault I was late, but stil..
I came there to give them my free time, energy and help and that is what yoI got?
Red Cross should not and must not work like that. -
Review from Angelina J.
Oakland, CA
2/17/2012
I am new to the area so I decided to join Oakland Red Cross.
I was a Red Cross volunteer for 5 years in my homecountry and since I've moved to California, I had the wish to continue volunteering because it's something that I like and makes me happy and I enjoy it.
I've scheduled an orientation at the Oakland Red Cross (even though I know ALL about values, history and principles of the Red Cross, even though I finished courses in CPR, Disaster Management, held many workshops myself and organized camps for children without parents, etc, etc... I held those orientations to new volunteers in my country actually). Despite all that, I still wanted to go through the basic training.
The orientation was scheduled for 1pm today. SInce I'm new to the area (like I mentioned), I didn't realize it's so far from the Bart on 19th street so I ended up walking for 35 mins (21 block!!!), caring my heavy purse and my coat. Not to mention that I left my classes in the school I'm attending early so I could come to the orientation.
I arrived at 1.10pm (10 mins late) and the receptionist was like "Sorry, you are late, we don't let anyone in, you have to schedule a new orientation". I couldn't believe it and left VERY disapointed. Not to mention that my boyfriend was supposed to pick me up at 4pm (when orientation was suppose to end) so I ended up paying for a taxi home at 1.15pm and he was shocked when he heard they wouldn't let me in.
I realize it was my fault I was late, but stil..
I came there to give them my free time, energy and help and that is what yoI got?
Red Cross should not and must not work like that. -
Review from Sun Kheng T.
San Francisco, CA
1/19/2010
Came here to be re-certified for advanced cpr.
The location on 2nd street in SF was booked and this was the only option. I was a bit hesitant at first because the area looked sketchy but the staff there couldn't have been more welcoming. This place is huge. Bring your lunch. You get free coffee or hot chocolate.
The instructor reminded me of Ben Stein LOL! The course is expensive but you get "freebies". I'm sure there are free course throughout the bay area but the money you spend goes to a good cause. KARMA PEOPLE!!!! -
Review from Alexis M.
2/28/2010
I went to the American Red Cross in Oakland on Saturday to get my certification for CPR/AED.
I got there at 5 to 9 and there was a woman outside who was all flustered. She told us our instructor didn't show up and we now needed to wait until 10 for another instructor. We were told we could leave and come back at 10.
Luckily most of us didn't leave because 8 minutes later in walked our original instructor who was all flustered because BART was running late.
It's not like 8 minutes is that late, it's just annoying because it was so disorganized and the other woman was freaking out and annoyed and told us we could leave and some people did. Luckily they came back 20 minutes later and didn't miss much.
Our instructor was sooooo slow though. I mean, you could hear a pin drop with all her pauses and ummms. It was actually quite painful and I was wondering if I would need some CPR to revive myself!
It got more interesting when it came time to perform CPR and AED on the dummies and she did get us out almost an hour early, so that was a major plus but I was really disappointed with the disorganization at the center.
I most likely will not return to this site to take a class. -
Review from Carl Z.
San Francisco, CA
10/27/2008
Woohoo! None of my digressions or wordplay limbo this time - straightforward liking never felt so great!!
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Review from Jack M.
Alameda, CA
4/8/2010
I've been volunteering with the ARC Bay Area Chapter for a little over a year and highly recommend this service activity to everyone who would like to work with an outstanding humanitarian organization and a great group of people. The Bay Area Chapter is one of the largest in the country and also one of the best. It provides assistance to hundreds of our neighbors every year, and you can also volunteer to participate in state or national relief operations.
There are many volunteer activities (e.g. disaster assistance, preparedness teaching, family services, community relations, partner services, government liaisons, emergency communications, etc.) and the training for all volunteers is first rate. I highly recommend getting involved with this organization!!
http://www.redcrossbay... -
Review from David V.
San Francisco, CA
10/23/2008
The American Red Cross Bay Area chapter has various locations throughout the six counties that it serves. Its headquarters are in the downtown San Francisco office in SOMA.
The office on Broadway St. is smaller but offers many of the same services to the East Bay community.
You can come here to do community service. Of course the Red Cross is a great place to do community service because they do a lot of awesome things. So if you need to get some hours in for whatever reason, you can probably get them in here, or if you're just a good person.
Other things that the Red Cross offers, of course, are classes in various things including CPR but also things like Disaster Assessment, Shelter Management and things like that. Many of these classes can be taken for free if you become an official volunteer of the Red Cross. Becoming a volunteer is a long process: you have to get screened, do a few interviews and some other things, but it's cool, as a volunteer you can be deployed for things like hurricanes and floods around the country. They deployed people for Hurricane Gustave and Ike recently.
And of course, it you're ever the victim of a disaster, like a fire or something, the Red Cross is there to help.
You should go visit the Red Cross to see how you can become involved, it's great!
Beside all that, the Oakland office is really laid back and friendly. The San Francisco office is a little more intense. The staff here are excellent and will help you find what you want.
