the NwBestCPR Team

Our senior instructors offer more than 75 years experience teaching First Aid and CPR.
​We all love to teach and we love our clients!

Farley Kautz

Founder / Executive Director

Farley started NwBestCPR in 2007 with the goal of customizing every class to the individual needs of his clients. His unique entrepreneurial background includes operating leadership programs for private schools and creating a wilderness education school for high school and college aged students. 

​Farley has spent much of his life guiding three to four week expeditions across the western United States backpacking, climbing, and rafting the mountains, canyons, and rivers of Colorado, Utah, and Alaska.

​With 35 years experience teaching Wilderness First Aid, Backcountry Survival, and the essential basics of bystander First Aid and CPR, Farley loves building lasting relationships with NwBestCPR's clients and still teaches almost daily. He will do his best to make your training educational, empowering, and FUN!

Whitney Smith 

Healthcare Provider R.N.

Whitney's superhero status as an Trauma Room Nurse in the Harborview Emergency Department keeps her more than busy, but she loves teaching Healthcare Provider CPR as often as she can. Drawing from years of experience in the professional medical community as well as her military training, Whitney's classes are detailed, current and highly educational.

As an world traveler, with vast experience in different cultures, including extended time in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, Whitney's students consistently rate her the most encouraging and knowledgeable instructor they have ever met!

In her few off moments, Whitney loves hiking with her dogs...and occasionally she takes her husband along too.

david johnson

Education Director

​We are proud to announce David's promotion to Education Director. Since 2002, David has taught classes to more than 15000 clients in Seattle.

With a Masters degree in education from Pacific Lutheran University, David has spent most of his life teaching and coaching including 12 years teaching adults in the medical field. 

An avid baseball fan, David has also coached high school baseball and been a conditioning specialist for more than 25 years. He's the #1 requested trainer in our lineup and if you ask anyone in Seattle who taught them how to save lives, they probably remember David!
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Even his own kids call him "Coach".

"COL" Nakamura 

Advising Physician

Dr. Hisato, or "Col" (short for Coltrane) as he is affectionately known by family and friends, is a partially, but not totally, somewhat thinking about it, semi-soon-to-be maybe-some-day retiring physician who loves teaching advanced First Aid, Outdoor Living Skills, and Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Professionals in third world countries where limited medical resources make lifesaving education especially valuable.

Raised on a remote island in Japan, Hisato has since traveled the world teaching, lecturing, and learning. He's currently on a temporary hiatus while he and his partner open a remote free-clinic in Mongolia.

Known for his amiable nature and urbane sense of humor, Hisato seldom shares his personal history, but if you ask about his medical experiences in other countries, he might tell you fascinating stories you wouldn't believe!

NwBestCPR instructors are certified to teach American Heart Association and Red Cross courses.

Instructor Candidates:
If you have at least 5 years experience teaching First Aid and CPR, please submit a brief resume to info@nwbestcpr.com