Saving lives using Stayin’ Alive tune to administer CPR‘Ah, ah, ah, ah, Stayin Alive Stayin Alive’ x2 sung the Bee Gees, a popular music group formed in the 1950’s. Little did they know that this song would not only be more than just a fan favorite, but also a tune that would be used to save people suffer having cardiac arrest.

This should of course be done while requesting for help from 9-1-1. Debra Bader is one of the many people who can attest to this fact. She has a testimony and her husband Chris aged 57 is living proof of all this. She says that she had initially viewed a video online on how to perform the CPR procedure. She also confirmed the fact that she was well aware of the changes made by AHA (American heart Association) on people near cardiac arrest victims should conduct the procedure.

How the use of the tip came to be

Alson Inaba was heading home to Honolulu after attending a meeting in Dallas for AHA. She was in the process trying to figure out an ideal way to demonstrate and teach medical students. She wanted to do so in a way that the students could either picture or have a clear idea of what 100 cpm (compressions per minute) would look like. Amazingly, she discovered that the Bee Gees hit song ‘Stayin’ Alive’ had the perfect beat to help her. It was also a huge coincidence that the title of the song could be used as a theme for the procedure.

Having landed on such a remarkable discovery, Dr. Inaba first utilized it with some of his students based in Hawaii. AHA recognized his methods and made an approach requesting him to publish it.

His tips of saving lives using the ‘Stayin Alive’ tune gained immense acknowledgment as nurses and doctors alike emailed him to applaud him for his innovative discovery. It was so wide spread that AHA adopted it and campaign for its use among other doctors and nurses across the country. People who had also never attended any CPR classes stated that they were able to perform the procedure successfully.

Simplifying the CPR procedure using ‘Stayin’ Alive’ tune

The courageous move that the AHA made was a hands-only CPR campaign, one which Debra stated as the change in guidelines. In orthodox CPR, one has to push gently on the chest and slowly perform mouth to mouth. On the other hand, hands-only CPR doesn’t involve breathing into the victim’s mouth and is most importantly not meant to take over conventional CPR methods.

It was noted that a huge number didn’t want to perform CPR probably because they weren’t of the thought of having to breathe into someone else’s mouth. It was also assumed that a huge majority never had the knowledge of how to perform the procedure in the first place. There were also others who were mainly scared and often panicked whenever they came across people already unconscious and in need of CPR. This could have also contributed to people failing to administer CPR to victims. The main objective of using a song was to therefore reduce the pressure and tension of the person carrying out the procedure.

The AHA continues its initiative to educate people on how they can perform CPR using the tune. They have joined hands with Jennifer Coolidge to help them spread the message of helping others in ‘Stayin’ Alive’