About A-B-CPR — Family-Owned San Diego CPR & First Aid Training Since 1998
Two San Diego locations. A four-instructor team plus our operations manager. AHA Training Center. EMSA approved. OSHA-compliant. 650+ five-star reviews. Same family, same standards, since 1998.
Who we are
A-B-CPR & First Aid Training Inc. is a family-owned San Diego training center. We teach CPR, First Aid, BLS, AED, and EMSA-approved childcare classes, at our Mission Valley headquarters, our Oceanside location, on-site at your workplace, and as live webinars across California.
Mike Long bought A-B-CPR in 1998 and has run it ever since. The company itself dates to 1993. Mike kept the name and the legacy and rebuilt the operation from the ground up, modern AHA curriculum, EMSA-approved childcare programs, on-site corporate delivery, and a reputation for instructors who actually make life-saving skills stick.
That last part is the through-line. Read any of our 650+ five-star reviews and the recurring word isn’t “fast” or “cheap.” It’s instructor.
Our story
In 1993, A-B-CPR opened as a small north-county business teaching public and corporate clients BLS CPR and First Aid. Fewer than a thousand students a year. Mike Long, then a working EMT-B and AHA CPR Instructor, was teaching classes on the side to earn extra income.
In 1998, he bought the company.
The pieces that came with him weren’t conventional CPR-training credentials. They were a BA in Business Management from San Diego State, time as Sales Manager at Holiday Inn on the Bay, ownership of La Jolla Brewing Company and La Jolla Paws pet supply, and the operator instincts that come with running real businesses. He paired all of that with a fresh EMT-B and an AHA Instructor cert, then went to work.
By 2000 he’d earned AHA BLS Instructor Trainer status. By 2021 he was appointed AHA BLS Training Center Faculty for the Western Region. Along the way A-B-CPR expanded into AED training and sales, opened a second location in Oceanside, built its own state-approved Health & Safety program, and grew from fewer than 1,000 students a year to over 15,000.
We’re still family-owned. Mike still teaches. And the company still picks up the phone when you call.
What we teach
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- BLS CPR for Healthcare Providers for nurses, EMTs, dental staff, and allied health. AHA BLS Provider card.
- BLS Renewal for Healthcare Providers for current cardholders or recently expired (within 30 days).
- Combination CPR/AED & First Aid for workplace-required training. Follows current AHA guidelines. OSHA-compliant.
- CPR (Adult/AED and Pediatric) for general workforce, parents, teachers, coaches, fitness pros, and lifeguards. Follows AHA guidelines. OSHA-compliant.
- First Aid (Adult and Pediatric) for workplace First Aid responders. Follows AHA guidelines. OSHA-compliant.
- Childcare CPR & First Aid for licensed California childcare providers. EMSA-approved. Issues AHA Heartsaver pediatric First Aid & CPR cards.
- Preventative Health (Childcare) delivered as a live webinar in English and Spanish. EMSA-approved 8-hour class. Statewide.
- Online Only Class for CPR/AED and/or First Aid Training for self-paced learners. Instant digital certificate.
- Host A Class At Your Location for workplaces, schools, churches, and community spaces across Southern California.
- Bloodborne Pathogen Training for OSHA-required roles.
AED Sales and Compliance Support for businesses, schools, gyms, and public spaces.
What sets us apart
Two and a half decades of San Diego training. A-B-CPR has been training San Diego since 1998, and the company itself goes back to 1993.
AHA Training Center, EMSA approved, OSHA-compliant. We’re authorized to issue AHA cards for BLS and Childcare CPR & First Aid. Our in-house CPR and First Aid classes follow current AHA guidelines and meet OSHA requirements. A working professional who needs BLS and a childcare worker who needs EMSA training can certify at the same place.
650+ five-star reviews. Read them at Google. The reviews answer the question most students actually have: will this class be worth my time?
Two physical locations. Mission Valley HQ at 3717 Camino Del Rio South, San Diego, CA 92108, and a North County classroom at 4083 Oceanside Blvd Suite B, Oceanside, CA 92056.
Statewide webinar coverage. Our EMSA-approved 8-hour Preventative Health (Childcare) class is delivered as a live webinar in English and Spanish to childcare providers in every California county. Same EMSA approval, no travel required.
Family-owned. Mike still teaches. Email goes to him. We pick up the phone.
Meet the team
Mike Long: Owner and Lead Instructor
Michaela Long — Office Manager
Michaela has been part of the A-B-CPR family business since 2018. She’s a BLS Instructor by training, but these days she runs the day-to-day office and handles bookings. If you call A-B-CPR, there’s a good chance Michaela is the voice on the other end. She’s the most patient person on staff when it comes to technical issues, and the heart of the operation.
William Perno: CPR and First Aid Instructor
Patricia "Tricia" Behan — Senior Instructor
Arnaldo Gutierrez — Instructor (Bilingual English / Spanish)
Our credentials
American Heart Association (AHA) Training Center. A-B-CPR is an AHA Training Center authorized to issue AHA BLS Provider cards and AHA Heartsaver pediatric First Aid & CPR cards. Mike Long has held AHA BLS Training Center Faculty status since 2021.
Curriculum that follows AHA guidelines. Our Combination, CPR (Adult/AED and Pediatric), First Aid (Adult and Pediatric), and Online classes use A-B-CPR’s own course materials that follow current American Heart Association guidelines and meet OSHA workplace requirements. Each issues an A-B-CPR course completion card valid for two years.
EMSA-Approved Child Care Training Program. A-B-CPR is approved by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) to deliver child care training under California Health & Safety Code §1596.866 and Title 22. This includes our Childcare CPR & First Aid class (which issues AHA Heartsaver pediatric cards) and our Preventative Health (Childcare) 8-hour class delivered as a live webinar in English and Spanish (with the 1-hour nutrition component and CDPH Lead Poisoning Prevention curriculum).
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Lead Poisoning Prevention Curriculum, required for EMSA-approved Preventive Health training since July 2020. We use the official CDPH version.
You can verify our EMSA approval directly at ChildCare@emsa.ca.gov.
Two convenient classrooms in San Diego County
San Diego – Mission Valley Classroom
San Diego, CA 92108
Central to downtown San Diego, La Jolla, Hillcrest, and surrounding areas.
Oceanside Classroom
Oceanside, CA 92056
Serving Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos, and the rest of North County.
Free parking at both. Wheelchair accessible. Walking distance to public transit.
For groups, we travel. We come to your workplace, school, church, or community space across San Diego County and Southern California. Pricing is based on your group and training needs, with no specific participant minimum. Our Preventative Health (Childcare) webinar reaches every California county. Host a class at your location.