On Monday, the Chattanooga Public Library was alerted to a series of CPR classes advertised at its Downtown Library, at 1001 Broad Street. The library is alerting the community that these classes are not legitimate.
Two different classes advertised on the American Heart Association (AHA) website for the dates of Nov.
22 through Nov. 29 appear to require an $80-85 registration fee for classes scheduled at the Downtown Library. The library is not hosting these events, and neither the AHA nor any of its partners has reserved space to conduct these classes.
The library does host health-related events, including its current schedule of COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics. However, the library only partners with certified health professionals.
The AHA has been notified of this issue, and a non-emergency report has been filed with the Chattanooga Police Department.
All events held at the library’s locations are available to view at chattlibrary.org/events.
Officials of the Heart Association said, “The American Heart Association certainly wants all trainees to have the best training experience possible. We received a complaint regarding classes offered on the AHA site and began an investigation earlier this week.
"There is an investigation and reconciliation process, with the AHA-authorized, independent local training centers being the primary contact for customer refunds and complaints as courses such as these are only offered through instructors aligned with those training centers.
"We are currently working to remove these classes from our website until the investigation is complete.
"Customers who have been charged and believe it to be fraudulent can start their complaint process with the training center we believe to be closest to this situation:
"CPR Fundamentals & Concepts (210) 862-0276.”