Who We Are
Heart Beat Inc. was started in 1984 as a small training company offering First Aid and CPR courses. The two principal owners were Elsie Edwards and Marilyn Hunter. We started part time out of our homes and grew to the point of needing a real office at Smith and Broadway. Elsie eventually sold her half of the company to Richard Bevan and after a few more years, Marilyn Hunter purchased the other half to become sole owner of Heart Beat Inc.
At the time, we needed Recording Resusci Anne’s for instructor programs and they kept needing adjustments. We then offered two in-services on manikin maintenance and repair and brought in a specialist Tom Richardson from Wellesley Hospital as the instructor. Our new repair service was created and many facilities grew to know us as “the Annie Repair Depot”.
The natural growth direction for us was to become distributors for CPR Manikins. That product line eventually expanded to include Emergency, Nursing and Medical Training products.
Five years went by, the clientele grew, and the parcel service expanded to a small office/training room in southwest Winnipeg. Fourteen years went by and we were absolutely bursting at the seams. The small parcel service that brought in CPR Manikins was now arriving in multiple palate loads and needing to be disassembled in the parking lot, classroom space was shrinking to accommodate more product, additional staff were hired and sharing desks in the product area so . . . In the fall of 2007, we moved into our present location on Dublin Avenue. We now have a full warehouse of medical, nursing and EMS training equipment; 2 training rooms with full Audio-visual capability, and we are still growing.
Heart Beat Inc. ships training equipment across Canada, from Obstetric Manikins to Casualty Simulation Kits for military use. We also supply BLS training manikins to other First Aid Training Centres, as well as renting training equipment to smaller providers. With the growth in demand for Automated External Defibrillators in business, recreation facilities, and the home market, we have found another niche. Heart Beat Inc. is an authorized distributor for Philips AEDs, and we assist customers in the development, implementation and maintenance of Defibrillation Programs across the province.
Our training programs include workplace First Aid and CPR courses, professional delivery CPR, AED training programs, as well as various specialized seminars, including Routine Practices and Wheelchair Obstructed Airway Training. Heart Beat Inc also offers training programs for CPR and First Aid instructors, using professionally designed programs from the Heart and Stroke of Canada and the Emergency Care and Safety Institute.
Heart Beat Inc training staff includes EMS and nursing professionals, with combined teaching experience of over 30,000 courses. Our client list includes a number of school divisions in Manitoba, clinical instructors from all the major hospitals in Winnipeg, EMS training officers across the province, and many prominent businesses, including Boeing Canada, Canada Safeway, Service and Hospitality Safety Association of Saskatchewan, to name but a few.
About Our Owner
Marilyn Hunter has been a consistent owner of Heart Beat Inc. for 25 years. Her extensive background originated in aquatics. Marilyn worked for the City of Winnipeg and North Delta B.C. for 15 years as an Instructor/Lifeguard and as a fitness instructor in the later years. At the same time in BC, Marilyn worked for Maple Ridge Ambulance service as an attendant and trained as an Industrial First Aid Attendant.
Her travels led her back to Winnipeg to start Heart Beat Inc., further courses in Occupational Health and Safety through the University of Manitoba and general business courses.
Marilyn was on various volunteer committees for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba for over 15 years including the Teaching committee, Infant and Child committee and the Executive committee. She has also received recognition for work on development of the Instructor Trainer course in Manitoba.
In 2007, Marilyn received recognition for outstanding contribution in the area of Health Promotion for Heart and Stroke’s 50th anniversary. The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, The Honourable John Harvard at a ceremony in Government House, presented this certificate.
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