Fast Response School of Health Care Education

I enrolled their class to renew my CPR card and paid through online. On the day of the class, I was informed that I can not attend the renewal class, since my card has expired. I spoke to the woman at Front Desk and stayed my case. She said she can not let me attend the renewal, I have to attend the BLS first, before I can attend the renewal. I showed my previous card. and with a smirk on her face, she said «Your card has expired.“and another employee agreed with her. I told them that was the purpose of renewing, because it has expired. Since I know I’m not going to win, I asked if I could get a refund of my money. And their response was, we can refund the money, since you did not cancel and the company’s policy in order to refund the payment you must cancel 10 days before the class. I was getting irritated already but remain calm and asked for a supervisor but instead the woman went inside and spoke to someone, then came back with a firm tone that they will not refund my $ 50.00. My response was, «so, the money that I just paid for my renewal can not be refunded back to me and will be donated to your company? The woman’s response was epic, «yes, exactly!» What a greedy, unprofessional company. The service was not rendered and therefore, a refund is appropriate! I do not recommend this place. Two thumbs down!
My advice to CPR cardholders, don’t come here. There are plenty of places around the Bay Area under American Heart Association that you can get your BLS/​CPR card, just search for it.

Finished the EMT course in April. Passed the NREMT the first time and immediately got job offers right after. It was quick! Also noticed as soon as you say you went to school here, you immediately get noticed by prospective employers. This school has a top notch reputation in the Bay Area for EMTs and Paramedics!!!

Worst owners both the man and woma. Hideous personality. Never will i take this place in consideration and much less advise anybody to go here. They are unprofessional, rude and liars.

Just finishing my externship at a Sacramento laboratory I have had a amazing time all the way through my phlebotomy program. Fast response has opened up a door for a wonderful career for me and I’m definitely looking forward to my future in the medical profession. The tuition was a small price to pay for a career that I can grow in. They worked with my work schedule and curriculum was very straight forward class part time only took 4 weeks which worked great for me and a week externship. Thanks again fast response!

I truly love this school and all the staff. I have taken phlebotomy there and now just finished the EMT course. I had such a wonderful and fulfilling time at school. My teachers Christopher Barney, Ben, Jeff, via, Mark, Manny, and Luke, plus many more were so awesome and knowledgeable. Always on your side wanting you to succeed. It really felt like a family. I will love all of them for everything they have done and taught me. I would and have recommend this school to everyone wanting to join the health care movement. I’m actually going back to take the ecg course next month!

I am so glad I chose Fast Response to take my EMT and phlebotomy classes!
The EMT program was amazing. All of the instructors are very knowledgeable in their field, and want you to succeed. They constantly want to help and give you the tools for success to pass the NREMT and beyond. Not only do they teach the curriculum in an interesting and engaging way, they also share real stories from their experiences. The six week course, although fast paced, was perfect for me and will be for anyone else who wants to finish EMT classes in a timely manner. No other place I would have rather been or people I would have rather been with!
After finishing EMT, I loved the school so much that I decided to sign up for the phlebotomy class. Carmie and Genetia are wonderful people to work with, and I couldn’t have asked for a better class. Even though the class is only two weeks, they prepare you for the NCCT and internship and are willing to do anything for you.
I passed both the NREMT and NCCT on my first attempts. That says something about the school as a whole.
Choose Fast Response, you won’t regret it!

I completed the phlebotomy course, passed the NCCT, and passed the state test. That should say something especially since I worked a full time job, and still took care of my wife and 3 kids. Stressful yes! But its was up to me to apply myself and pay attention to what was being taught. My instructor (Salu Ribeiro) deserves nothing but PRAISE! That guy really helped me to understand my role as a phlebotomist, and has even taken his own time to help me prepare a quality resume and cover letter. I thank God for him and will always be greatfull for the quality and professional instruction I received.
The only reason I give 4 out of 5 stars is because when I needed help with my resume and tried to use the schools «resource» system… I felt like it was a JOKE!
Other than that the school is a great learning environment and I recommend it if your looking to learn a life long trade FAST!

This school is super professional with there staff and everything else. I took a phlebotomy course there and I couldn’t have had a better teacher. Gentia is a SUPER TEACHER! She makes sure that you’ll have a complete and total understanding of how the phlebotomy field works. Personally made me feel extremely comfortable and confident in myself. She goes up and out of her way to insure that you learn how to perform all the tasks necessary and needed that are involved in the field of phlebotomy. Need i say more? okay, fine. She is a clear and thorough teacher that answers all your questions no matter how silly they may seem. She also was able to set me up with a proper externship at Quest Diagnostics, which was a great learning experience. Not only that, but was also able to help guide me twords the right direction when searching for a job. These are just some examples of excellency this school and thier teachers can provide you with.

Ive taken several BLS class before and usually It is boring… but not this time…
our instructors adam and john made it so much fun (even though most of the attendees are shy & quiet)
Will highly recommend this place to friends!

I am a recent grad RN and took my ACLS provider course at Fast Response recently. I’ve had less-​than-​amazing BLS/​First Aid courses in the past (while living elsewhere) so I wasn’t expecting much. A pleasant surprise: my ACLS course was great!
Our lead instructor was Troy (I believe that’s his name), a paramedic with lots of experience both in the field and in the classroom. I really appreciated his vast knowledge of the current evidence based practice in the field. He gave thorough rationales for any questions that came up (e.g. «why do we do x instead of y now?»). In addition to depth of knowledge, he also taught well — he provided useful mnemonics and other similar learning aids. Another thing, they have Ipads with software that allows them to give us different ACLS scenarios, and allow us to visualize real-​time changes in the patient monitor. This is very useful, and sometimes stressful lol (good training for the real thing!)
The location is nice and clean, and located super conveniently right next to the BART station (you have to pay for parking in this part of town, so I recommend just taking BART). They kept our room a bit colder than I would’ve liked (most of us were in jackets/​sweatshirts all day lol), but that’s probably the only qualm I had with my time there.
Overall, I definitely recommend doing your ACLS/​PALS, etc here. The staff were all nice, there was a nice mix of students (medic students, RNs, physicians), and the location is nice and conveniently located.

I always go there for my CPR License renewal. Its right next to the downtown bart station and the place is very neat and clean from the corridors to the classroom… including the bathrooms!
I’ve had 3 different teachers each time I went… I don’t remember the first one, the second one was Kirk and recently it was Adam… all of them were Awesome. They were very professional and knowledgeable. I’ve never felt bored in their classes. They are willing to answer any questions you have.
I always had a very positive experience there and I highly recommend this place!

We had a class at our company location in Berkeley CA,
I really couldnt ask for a better trainer. Adam kept our attention from start to finish with CPR facts and his CPR stories. I now feel confident that if ever I needed to use my CPR skills I would be able to do it to the best of my abilities and with success. Hats off to you Adam. WELL DONE!

Great Class, Great teacher (Genetia), and clean and well equipped class rooms.
Was well prepared for national test and my internship.
Was provided all info need on how to become licensed after school and internship.
Genetia was a wonderful teacher with a outstanding attitude.
They never promised me a job, as no school ever should. They did inform me of job and volunteer opportunities.
My story — I took the two week phlebotomy class Dec 2013, took and pasted NCCT the first time in January, was given the choice in an internship at my second choice in January or my first choice in February. I took my first choice of Kaiser. Finished my internship in March, received my license in June from the state. In September got a job offer from my internship site.
I would recommend this class, school, and Genetia to anyone.

Great program. The entire class was well set up. Luke, Ben, Chris are great instructors.
I needed to get the class done quick and this was just the thing. The price was not too bad. The resources and connections you have after the class are worth all the money. The program is beyond organized.
I greatly recommend Fast Response for anyone looking into EMT needs.

I just recently completed the phlebotomy class at Fast Response and I was very happy with it. My instructor was Carmie, and she’s pretty much amazing! I took the full time class so it was a 2 week course. It was pretty fast pace, but having Carmie as an instructor, the class went by pretty smooth and easy. I mean 2 weeks of information plus lab? It’s hard, but she made class fun and exciting. I can’t believe I retained all that information, but the class was very interesting. It was bitter sweet, I didn’t want class to end, but now I’m waiting for my externship to start and they offer refreshers as well as the review for the NCCT. I’m glad I made the choice to attend the phlebotomy program at Fast Response (:

Be prepared to just remember material versus actually learning the material. You will get a lot of remember this remember that because they don’t wanna take the time to explain or just don’t have the knowledge to be able to explain it to students.
I m not gonna sit here and kiss ass like some of the other students. Im just telling you from my point of view and my perspective.
Also, don’t get me wrong the instructors are cool, funny, engaging but point being lectures are more of know this for the test know this for the nremt.

I attended the spring sterile processing program here at this school which consisted of 10 weeks. My class was pretty small which had a total of 11 students. Our scheduled classroom meetings were from 6pm-​10pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and 9am-​6pm on Saturdays.
Our instructors Deke and Julianne are very nice and professional. They are both knowledgable and have many years of experience in the sterile processing field. They strive to make everyone succeed. If anyone was having trouble, Deke and Julianne will do whatever it takes to make sure you understand the material.
The class curriculum is designed into 4 modules. There will be a comprehensive final as well as a practical final on Saturdays. Its an accelerated class and it will go by very fast! Chapter quizzes will be on Mondays and Wednesdays and finals will be every 2 – 3 weeks in between. As long as you are on top of the textbook readings, you should have no trouble passing onto the next module. The study guides they gave us were very helpful btw!
Overall, Ive had an enjoyable experience here at Fast Response. The classroom setting was never boring. Shoutout to Deke and Julianne for that! I’m excited and anxious to start my new found skills at my externship in the next couple of weeks at the hospital.
Update (June 2015) — This school had an issue regarding didactic hours for approval with the IAHCSMM state certification. I spoke with Tom Peck to address this and he promised to offer a secondary externship site to compensate the other 200 hours needed.
My experience — Completed Fast Response Fast Response in April 2014. Applied for provisionary certificate and passed while collecting 200 hours externship at Eden Medical Center in June 2014. Sent in paperwork and was DENIED for full certification! WTH
June 2015 — 7 months later I finally was assigned to Seton Medical Center to train for the remaining 200 hours. I had to retake the IAHCSMM exam and passed! Fast Response did not reimburse me for the first exam either.
After I received my certification I landed a career job serving the Alameda county one week later. SUCCESS!
My advice — Ask if they had fixed this issue with IAHCSMM otherwise try elsewhere. Niles college offers the same course with a contract site with Seton Medical Center.
Cheers!

So just finished my EMT-​B certification through Fast Response which was absolutely amazing! The program was extremely challenging yet enjoyable and well worth it! I’ve never been much of a scholar but, because of the instructors as well as the staff they really helped me understand a «new world» I want to say. My instructors Luke and Chris were patient, extremely detailed, strict yet easy going, and humorous. I truly appreciated the time they took to help me and other students with studying and understanding the material.
This course was 5 ½ weeks long Monday through Friday 830a-​5p. Their is also a night class if your interested. My class was lucky enough to join in on a make shift MCI (Mass Casualty Incident) for the paramedic students. We were asked to be patients and, had a great time giving the future medics a hard time. A few of us were also asked to be EMT support for the medics which was a great learning experience in my own opinion. There were lots of hands on work throughout the whole course which made it easier to understand the skills.
Once you finish the 5 ½ week in school portion you must go out and do 3 externships. I read a few negative comments on Unilocal about this process. I want to make sure you all understand how ridiculous they sound to me and my class. All you have to do to get your externships done quick is make sure your course is paid for, get all your immunizations done (could be pricey if you don’t have insurance but Fast Response has helpful solutions for this), and turn in all paperwork needed. I’m from LA and planned to move back as soon as I was done with this course so I wanted to get them done quick. I was seriously scheduled for my externships the same day I turned in my immunization papers and was done with them that week. Tony and Brendan were very quick and extremely organized and I really appreciated that.
Fast Response also offers other courses like CPR, EKG, Phlebotomy, Paramedic school, and more. That’s great for your CEU’s that are up to you to complete. Upon finishing this course you have to take your NREMT which I still haven’t taken yet but, I am working on it now with FR through there website study guide. I give this school an all around 10 out 10! I Thank it’s staff for everything they’ve done and hope to work with a lot of them soon. I recommend anyone looking to join any branch of the Emergency Medical Services to come here.

I recently completed the EMT daytime class. It’s 5 weeks from 8:30a-5:00p T-​F. Then you have 2 ambulance ride-​alongs and one ER shift before taking the NREMT.
Our class unique in that it started out by participating in a Mass Casualty Incident joint training put on with the current class of Paramedics and the Federal Firefighters from the military base in Concord. Having been part of joint operational training scenarios in the military I was impressed that Fast Response participated in this type of training. It even included a quick stop from the REACH helicopter, who had to leave due to being in service and receiving a call.
The 5 weeks of class is intense. Don’t expect to get through it if you’re not going to fully commit yourself for those few weeks. Our instructors (Luke and Chris) are extremely knowledgeable in both ambulatory and hospital work experience. We had several other instructors that helped out with our skills training and testing. Dianne (Nancy) was one of our classes favorites.
I gave Fast Response 4 stars because of the professionalism of the instructors and the manor that the class was taught. The building and classrooms are clean and as comfortable as could be expected. I docked 1 star because the school while growing in popularity seemed to be going through some growing pains, all if which were being worked out by the time we completed our course.
If you’re thinking about taking this course, do it.

What an amazing company here in Berkeley. You can sign up for all different types Allied healthcare programs.
I am only reviewing the BLS part of Fast Response. I have been coming here to get my renewal for over the past 6 years. Each time I come here, even with different staff members employed here, I’ve only encountered professional and very knowledgeable people.
We learned a lot from our instructors Charles, Shante, and Adam. This crew made a long day of class seem very short. They rock.
I felt very confident and comfortable in this class. It was very nice knowing that our instructors were very patient with the newbies and us not so newbies.
All of the equipment was clean and sterile as always and we always learn the latest updates from the AHA.