Our Instructors
Our instructors are all currently practicing medical professionals and RCUK Instructors. Owning 30 years experience in the emergency medical field we are a team of skilled and dedicated educators. Each of our instructors has proven their passion in medical education and hold various medical teaching qualifications alongside their medical registration.
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Johnee Whalen
CO-FOUNDER/HEAD INSTRUCTOR/COURSE DESIGN/ RESUSCITATION PRACTITIONER/ CRITICAL CARE PARAMEDIC
Jo has been a practicing Critical Care Paramedic since 2012. She has ventured globally in both her medical practice and education. A Canadian with a passion for education and medical practice founded Project CPR on a community outreach program to educate and empower families to help their loved ones in an emergency.
Jo holds a current registration with the HCPC Paramedics. She is a Resuscitation Practitioner for the NHS where she is on the cardiac arrest and medical emergency teams at University Hospitals Sussex. In this role she also educates Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Midwives and all other medical staff in the practice of Resuscitative Care.
Jo is an a current RCUK Instructor holding BLSi, ILSi instructor certifications. She has taught medical professionals in Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom. She is also educated and practiced in Paediatrics holding Paediatric Immediate and Advanced Life Support Certifications.
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Ellishia Mcnab
CO-FOUNDER/ REGISTERED EMERGENCY NURSE/INSTRUCTOR
Ellishia is a practicing Emergency Care Nurse and works across various resuscitation departments in hospitals across the South West. She has held an NMC Registration since 2013. Ellishia also works with the Sussex Police as a Forensic Nurse Practitioner.
She has been an events nurse for over a decade and has been stationed as medical staff at various prestigious events across the UK, including the Queens Funeral.
With her trusted medical expertise, Ellishia ventured Project CPR with Jo to help educate and empower families with the knowledge of medical emergencies and basic resuscitation in their toolbelts.
We strongly believe that fear drives a lack of response. We aim to educate families and make familiar the process of rescuing our loved ones in an emergency. Our aim is to positively affect survival rates for out of hospital cardiac arrest! Bystander CPR is the Key!
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Louise Kimber
REGISTERED ITU NURSE, RESUSCITATION PRACTITIONER, ADVANCED INSTRUCTOR
Louise started her career in Accident and Emergency. She obtained her RN Registration in 2016 and has been actively practicing since. She moved straight into the Coronary Care Unit once registered and from there advanced to become an Intensive Care Nurse.
Louise discovered her passion for education and resuscitation while working in ITU. She became a Resuscitation Practitioner for the NHS University Hospitals Sussex where she is on the cardiac arrest and medical emergency teams. She has since obtained a number of resuscitation qualifications and instructor certifications through the RCUK.
Louise holds Immediate Life Support Instructor, Paediatric Immediate Life Support Instructor, and Advanced Life Support Instructor through the RCUK. She is also qualified in Paediatric Advanced Life Support.
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Max Francis
INSTRUCTOR/PARAMEDIC STUDENT
Max is a current Paramedic Apprentice with South East Coast Ambulance. Max has worked within University Hospitals Sussex since 2019, jumping in to help at the beginning of the COVID Pandemic.
Max has been trained in and practicing resuscitation since then. He has expanded his passions to include educating others in the art of Resuscitation.
Max is an RCUK BLS Instructor.
Max has been vital to the foundation of Project CPR and has been a volunteer since our induction. Max has been our most valued volunteer and has grown with this business to become one of the founding three!
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Winter’s Story
I had just given birth to our beautiful baby girl, Winter. She was only 13 days old when she suffered a severe airway obstruction. The doctors believed it was remnants from her lungs due to being born via caesarean section. My partner called an ambulance while I began using back slaps and tried to clear her airway. She couldn’t breathe, and I could see the panic on her face. As she continued to turn purple and blue, struggling to move any air, I feared the worst.
I brought her outdoors onto the front lawn so that the ambulance would see us immediately. I had to move on to rescue breathing because nothing was coming out of her airway. I knew it was mucus, as her mouth was filling with foam and saliva. If I couldn’t get it out, I needed to try to push it past her trachea and into her oesophagus in hopes that she could take in at least one breath.
Two, three, four times I tried to push air into her lungs without any success. Her eyes started to bulge with fear, and her face and body were now very blue. I yelled out to my partner that I needed suction. He ran into the kitchen to get our LifeVac Anti-Choking Device, but I decided we didn’t have the time to wait. I decided to reverse my rescue breaths and try to suck the obstruction out of her mouth and nose.
The universe was kind, and the suction worked. I managed to clear her airway enough for her to breathe, and she began to cry. The sound of her cry was music to my ears as I realized that we had almost lost her. I had to continue to give her back slaps from time to time and held her in a recovery position, clearing her airway every few minutes.
The ambulance finally arrived with a basic tech crew in tow. They didn’t have any paediatric equipment on board or any experience in paediatric or neonatal care. It had taken them 65 minutes to respond to our call. Winter had been blue for 40 full minutes.
We spent a week in the hospital where Winter needed frequent suctioning, struggled to eat, and had to be monitored at all times.
I thank the universe every single day that I am trained as a Critical Care Paramedic, a Resuscitation Practitioner, and a Paediatric Specialist. My partner and I have reflected many times that if it had been a family without such training, Winter wouldn’t be alive today.
It is because of this that I want to empower all families to care for their loved ones. We can only hope that no one ever has to experience the trauma that we have, and if they do, that they may be prepared to help their loved ones.
