350,000 people suffer cardiac arrest every year, and most of them don’t make it. If your heart stops beating suddenly and you aren’t at a hospital, nine times out of ten, you’re going to die.
You have a better chance of surviving if someone on the scene begins Cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately, but 70% of Americans don’t know how to give CPR, or are afraid of hurting the person in need of help.
This is where television comes in handy. Have you seen that episode of The Office where the staff are getting their CPR training, and the instructor tells them to give chest compressions in time to “Stayin’ Alive”? That’s not just a gag, it’s actually endorsed by the American Heart Association.
The AHA publishes an FAQ about CPR which says, “Push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of the disco song ‘Stayin’ Alive.’”
Any song, not just “Stayin’ Alive,” which helps you to keep to a rhythm of 100-120 compressions per minute, is suitable. Just so it keeps a rapid, steady rhythm of compressions to a consistent depth. In fact, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has an entire Spotify playlist with more than fifty CPR-approved songs, so you can save lives to Marvin Gay, Lady Gaga, or Justin Bieber: “Pick one to remember in case you ever need to save a life.”
As silly as the scene on The Office is, it gave clear enough instructions that an Indiana man credited it with helping him save his daughter’s life according to a June 2021 Indianapolis Star report. When she collapsed, he remembered the episode and copied it, and kept her blood circulating until EMTs arrived.
The Red Cross wishes to remind everyone that CPR is used in cases of cardiac arrest, not simply of heart attack: “Remember that a heart attack occurs when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is blocked, causing part of the heart muscle to die. On the other hand, cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops beating or beats too ineffectively to circulate blood to the brain and other vital organs. A person in cardiac arrest is not responsive, not breathing and has no heartbeat.”
While the public was previously trained in CPR using a combination of chest compressions and breaths, concerns about infection and about the process being too complicated led the Red Cross and the American Heart Association to switch to endorsing hands-only CPR. They now say that the most important things to do when you witness cardiac arrest are to:
1) call 911 and
2) administer chest compressions
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital gives instructions for chest compressions like this: “Kneel over the victim. With straight arms and interlocked hands, push hard and fast on [the] chest. 2 compressions per second at least 2 inches deep.”
One important thing to remember is to not imitate CPR form from television. For example, don’t bend your arms the way they always do, so keep them stiff to properly compress the chest.
By John M. Burt
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