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The Spotlight: Gail Gould’s Rewarding Journey as The CPR and Safety Lady

Writer's picture: Flori Meeks HatchettFlori Meeks Hatchett



Smiling woman in T-shirt.
Gail Gould, also known as The CPR and Safety Lady.

When it comes to job satisfaction, few things top knowing you’re teaching people to save a life. That’s why Houston CPR and first aid instructor Gail Gould can usually say that even long, tiring days are still good days.

 

“I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and it’s so gratifying,” said Gould, a solopreneur also known as The CPR and Safety Lady. “I get a few emails per year from people saying, ‘That thing you showed me how to do — I used it on my husband, my child, my co-worker, my friend.’ They’re from people saying that they’ve used choking relief on other people.”

 

She hears from people who used the CPR skills she taught them, too, though not as often.

 

The bulk of her clients are Houston-based Fortune 500 companies, mostly in the energy and engineering industries. They offer the training to staff and leadership as part of their emergency response action plans, detailed procedures for responding to crisis situations, from chemical spills to medical emergencies.

 

Gould also teaches at preschools, where staff members are required to renew their CPR certification every two years.

 

She considers herself fortunate to be making a living doing something she enjoys daily.


Love Your Work

 

Gould still remembers a childhood conversation with her father about work, a conversation that has stuck with her over the years.

 

“He was telling me, ‘You’re going to have to work, so it’s important to find something you like to do. If you hate your work, life’s miserable. Your life will be much better if you love your work.”

Woman with group of adults holding CPR dummies.
Gould teaches CPR at Houston corporations and childcare centers.

 

Gould thought she was on the path to following that advice when she earned a degree in drama from The University of Texas at Austin. She always loved talking to and performing for audiences. After graduation, she moved to Los Angeles in search of acting work. It took about six weeks for her to conclude that living there and competing with countless other would-be actors for jobs wasn’t the life she wanted.

 

That began a two-and-a-half-year season, back in Texas, of trying jobs she didn’t particularly like. It wasn’t a great time, but she did eventually find a good fit: teaching fitness classes.

 

“I loved getting up in front of people and exercising and interacting and connecting,” she said.

 

It was satisfying work, but after about 10 years, Gould found herself thinking about moving beyond classroom exercise instruction — and working in a leotard. At age 34, she decided to pursue a graduate degree in exercise science from University of Houston.

 

“One of the best things I’ve ever done for myself was to go back to graduate school, and it was a real feat for me because I have a form of dyslexia,” she said. “I listened to tons of audiobooks, probably 30 audiobooks a year.”

 

Cold Calling

 

After Gould graduated in 1986, she decided she wanted to work for herself. She had researched opportunities in corporate health promotion, which focuses on improving employee health and well-being, and began looking for gigs. Her sales approach? Cold calling Houston companies.

 

“That was back in the day when you could still get people on the phone,” Gould said. “I would call Shell and Bechtel (engineering) and these different large companies and say, ‘Do you want a tobacco-cessation class? Do you want stress management classes? What about CPR?’ And they all wanted CPR training.”

 

The CPR and Safety Lady (a name she adopted a bit later) was in action. And in many cases, once companies started bringing her in to teach CPR, they continued to use her training services.

 

“I just love going up to those places,” she said. “The people are so professional. They’re so interested to learn, and they take this very, very seriously.”

 

Heavy Loads and Silver Linings

 

Even with attentive students, Gould knows that the more digestible and relatable she makes her lessons, the more likely class participants are to retain what she’s teaching them. She makes a point of keeping her presentations simple and weaving in real-world examples.

 

Also critical, she said, is the hands-on aspect.

 

She has heard of instructors modeling CPR on a dummy or mannequin while students watch, but she can’t imagine how people would really master the process, or feel confident doing it themselves, without practicing CPR in class under a teacher’s guidance.

 

“So I have 21 mannequins; I have a crazy number of mannequins. That’s the only part of my job that I don’t like, dragging 200 pounds of equipment wherever I go.”

CPR instructor standing in front of men, each holding CPR dummy.
Gould at a recent CPR course.

 

Despite her devotion to providing equipment for her students, Gould did have to adjust her teaching methods during the COVID-19 pandemic when social distancing put a temporary hold on her on-site training sessions. She started offering classes over Zoom. With her guidance, students made their own “mannequins” with large stuffed animals or pillows for the hands-on portions of lessons.

 

“That was one of the silver linings in the pandemic,” she said. “I taught people from Canada and all over the United States. It was mainly for preschool teachers, parents, and grandparents, people who wanted to learn but didn’t need a CPR card for licensure.”

 

Another silver lining, Gould said, was the time that the pandemic gave her to complete a new project.

 

How to Help Your Choking Child

 

“People were sitting around twiddling their thumbs during the pandemic, saying, ‘What do we do now?’” Gould said. “I don’t like sitting around, so I decided to create a digital course called How to Help Your Choking Child.

 

The inspiration for the mini course was a woman Gould knows whose 8-month-old baby had choked to death.


In the U.S., airway obstruction injuries, which include choking and suffocation, are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among infants under 1 year old. In a choking situation, parents or caregivers have only moments to respond, and they need to know exactly what to do.

 

The course Gould developed includes preventative measures, one of which is guidelines for baby-proofing a home. Lessons are presented via video, and the course includes graphics and downloads.

 

“I put my blood, sweat, and tears into this course, and I’m really proud of it,” Gould said. “I tell people it makes a great new-baby gift for parents and grandparents.”

 

Dangerous Misconceptions

 

One thing that struck Gould about the woman who inspired her course was that when the mother didn’t know how to help her choking child, she handed her to the baby’s father and ran for help.

 

“People always think if someone becomes unresponsive, they need to go run for help,” Gould said. “No, if someone becomes unresponsive, you call 911 immediately, and if they’re not breathing, you need to start CPR. If you run for help, they’re not going to survive. That’s why everybody needs to know what to do, and taking anywhere from two to five hours (to learn and refresh CPR skills) every two years is not a huge time commitment.”

 

Gould also encounters misconceptions about the purpose of CPR versus that of the automated external defibrillator (AED).

 

“CPR keeps the heart, brain, and lungs alive until the AED arrives,” she said. “Ninety percent of adults, meaning teenagers and older, will need use of an AED to survive.”


Woman with CPR students.
Gould jokes that she has "a crazy number of mannequins." 

If someone goes into cardiac arrest — meaning their heart suddenly stops beating effectively due to an abnormal heart rhythm — the only way to restore a normal rhythm is to shock the heart with an AED, she added.

 

The Cycle Continues

 

Gould values opportunities, not only to teach others how to perform CPR, but to address misconceptions about first aid and resuscitation. She’s interested in finding ways to amplify awareness of her brand, possibly by being a spokesperson or doing commercials, which would allow her to use the skills she developed as a drama major years ago.

 

She also has been excited to see her son, Zac, pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. She, just as her dad did for her, strongly encouraged her son to find the best path for himself.

 

“I told him, it’s so important to find meaningful work, work that you like. Did I find meaningful work right out of college? No, it was a circuitous route. But I’m so grateful I found work I love to do.”

 

 

 

 

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