In a creative melding of pop culture and public health, the AHA is advocating familiar songs as a way for people to remember the correct tempo for Hands-Only CPR. Songs like “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees and “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé have a BPM range of 100-120. These songs are being used to train bystanders properly in performing CPR during cardiac emergencies.
This use of music is a continuation of AHA’s current effort to increase public knowledge and training in the methods for CPR. Hands-Only CPR can keep blood flowing to the organs and brain with hard and fast pushes to the center of the chest during a cardiac arrest.
‘360’ by Charli xcx has the right tempo for Hands-Only CPR at 120 beats per minute, according to the American Heart Association. PIC.TWITTER.COM/3G4YS8SJ6S
— Pop Base (@PopBase) SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
Precise tempo is important to ensure the heart pumps blood into the vital organs in the body. According to AHA, the initial steps to be taken during cardiac arrest are calling 911, followed by chest compressions begun at the right tempo.
To promote this training, AHA initiated public awareness campaigns that utilized social media to distribute information regarding the need for immediate response during cardiac emergencies. Included within this strategic option of playlists, such as “Don’t Drop the Beat,” on platforms like Spotify are those that encompass different genres of music but at the right tempo for CPR for easiness and palatability to the public for consumption.
Music has been identified as a potentially strong teaching tool when it comes to CPR training. Familiar songs, with a tempo range of 100-120 BPM, enhance the retention and recall of CPR skills and techniques. Because stress levels can be very high, recalling the beat of a familiar tune may be much easier than recalling the exact rate of compressions, which will help increase bystander confidence to take immediate action.
Adequately performed chest compressions, to a depth of about two inches for adults, are very important in maintaining blood flow and increasing, by many folds, the chances of survival following cardiac arrest.
The AHA takes the unusually creative approach toward public health education in using music for training in CPR. Well-recognized songs help to minimize mystery about the process of CPR and make it all so much more approachable to the general public. This approach teaches more than just a critical lifesaving skill-it also teaches the immediate response skill that can increase survival rates so much in emergencies.
