BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Sponsored
- Name: Sav-A-Life
- Hours of Operation: Mondays and Tuesdays, 6 to 10 p.m.
- What They Do: CPR, First Aid, Basic Life Support Instruction
- Cost: $35 for “Life Saving CPR,” additional fees for other classes.
- Contact: 325-650-2507
About “Sav-A-Life”
Joyce Gray has been a life saver since 1976, when she started work as a paramedic in Irion County. Along with her husband, Johnny, and several others, they crewed the first paramedic service in that county.
Back in the days before you had to have special medical training to operate an ambulance.
Shortly after that, Gray received her EMS training, and started teaching CPR classes. She took over Sav-A-Life in 2000 from the previous owner. In the last decade, her husband Johnny comes along to help set up and instruct.
Classes are held twice a week, on Monday and Tuesday, from 6 to 10 p.m.
On this particular Monday, Joyce turns on the TV for a brief informational video before class, and the students get ready to learn Life Saving CPR. We chat in the back office, where dozens of first aid “dummies” rest on tall racks.
We asked if she had any guesses about how many people she’s taught since starting CPR instruction.
“Oh gosh,” she said before thinking a moment. “I suppose it would be; ten, times two, times four, times twelve, times thirty. So figure that.” That estimate makes for 24,000 students.
Gray says that most of her students are required to learn CPR as part of their job training, or if they’re planning to adopt children, switching schools, any number of reasons.
“Out here tonight I have girl scouts, daycare workers, nursing homes,” she said, but they also travel to work locations around town and in the San Angelo area. From heavy material fabrication plants to food factories.
“Have dummies, will travel!”
Though most students are there because they’re required, Joyce says many still attend just to learn.
“The ones that really touch my heart are the students who come just for their families. Their baby, their parents and grandparents.”
Along with awards from the American Heart Association, Joyce was proud that Sav-A-Life was recently honored with an award from Google Reviews, 2026 Award for Best Education Center in San Angelo, based off number of positive online reviews.
After doing it for so many years, Joyce has a “drawer full” of thank you letters from students who were able to save someone’s life through CPR.
“It’s very rewarding. People come back and say that ‘after the class I was able to save my baby, or I was able to save my husband.’ And that makes every minute worth it.”
This article is a feature of the Concho Observer Business Directory.
