A medical emergency can make anyone freeze. Amira Mohammed wants more people to feel ready instead.
As the founder of Body Language CPR, Mohammed is bringing a more approachable style to CPR training in Scottsdale and across the Valley. A registered nurse, she teaches in-person, hands-on private group classes for health care professionals, fitness instructors, hospitality staff, teachers, coaches, business owners, parents, caregivers and anyone who wants to know what to do before an emergency happens.
Her classes are about two hours and offer American Heart Association CPR and Basic Life Support certification. Students practice CPR for adults, children and infants, learn how to use an automated external defibrillator, commonly known as an AED, and cover what to do if someone is choking. The goal is simple: make lifesaving skills feel clear, doable and less intimidating.
Mohammed is also reaching people online. One of her educational CPR reels recently passed 3 million views, showing that people are interested in health and safety information when it feels practical, relatable and easy to understand.
That matters. According to the American Heart Association, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen outside hospitals each year in the U.S., and immediate CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. In other words, the person who needs help may not be a stranger. It may be someone you love.
The AZ Insider caught up with Mohammed to talk about CPR myths, social media education and why confidence can be just as important as certification.
What inspired you to start Body Language CPR, and what did you want to do differently from a traditional CPR class?
My inspiration comes from both my experience as a nurse and my own family history of cardiac arrest. I know the impact a medical emergency can have on an individual and their loved ones, and those experiences reinforced just how valuable CPR knowledge can be.
I wanted CPR training to feel less intimidating and more accessible. Having the confidence to step in during an emergency can make all the difference, and I wanted to help more people feel prepared to do exactly that.
Why do you think CPR feels intimidating to so many people, especially those taking a class for the first time?
I think a lot of people are afraid they are going to do something wrong. CPR is always associated with emergencies, so it can feel scary before you have even started learning it.
What I try to remind people is that CPR is not about being perfect. It is about being willing to step in and help. Once people realize they do not have to memorize a hundred complicated steps, their confidence usually grows pretty quickly.
A recent social media post passed 3 million views! What do you think that says about the way people want to learn health and safety information now?
I think it shows that people still want to learn, they just want it delivered differently.
As a Gen Z nurse, I understand how much the way we consume information has changed. We grew up learning through videos, social media and content that gets to the point quickly. That does not mean we are less interested in learning. It just means education has to meet people where they are.
The fact that a CPR reel reached more than 3 million people tells me there are a lot of people who care about these skills. They just do not want to feel like they are sitting through a lecture. If social media can help make lifesaving information more approachable and get more people interested in learning CPR, that is a win.
Who are you seeing the most interest from right now?
I am seeing a lot of interest from a mix of health care and non-health care businesses, parents and caregivers, and people who simply want to feel more prepared in case of an emergency.
One thing I am passionate about is that CPR is not just for health care professionals. It is a skill that can benefit anyone. When cardiac arrest happens outside of a hospital, the first person there is not always a health care worker. It is often a family member, friend or bystander.
What is one CPR myth or misconception you wish more people understood?
One of the biggest misconceptions is that people think they can make a situation worse by doing CPR.
In reality, when someone is in cardiac arrest, doing something is almost always better than doing nothing. People worry about things like breaking a rib, but a broken rib is a survivable injury, and cardiac arrest is not. What matters most is giving that person a chance until professional help arrives.
How does Body Language CPR make training feel more personal or less traditional?
I try to create an environment where people feel comfortable asking questions and making mistakes while they learn. CPR can feel very serious because it is serious, but the class itself does not have to feel cold or intimidating.
My goal is to make the information clear, realistic and approachable. Whether I am teaching a health care team, gym staff, teachers, coaches, parents or someone taking CPR for the first time, I want people to feel like the class was made for real life, not just for checking a certification box.
When someone leaves one of your classes, what do you hope they feel more confident about?
More than anything, I want people to leave my classes feeling confident.
My goal is not for someone to walk out remembering every single detail from class. It is for them to walk out knowing that if an emergency ever happened, they would have the knowledge, skills and courage to act.
Body Language CPR is based in Scottsdale and offers private group CPR and Basic Life Support certification classes. For more information, visit bodylanguagecpr.com or follow @bodylanguagecpr on Instagram.
