CPR to the Beat of the Bee Gees

Submitted by the American Heart Association about a free CPR course May 20 in Portsmouth: 

Remember disco? The American Heart Association and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire are pumping new life into the 70s disco classic to help save lives with Hands-Only CPR.

The American Heart Association campaign uses the Bee Gees’ hit "Stayin’ Alive" to teach lifesaving Hands-Only™ CPR (no breaths, just chest compressions). The song has more than 100 beats per minute, the near-perfect rate at which you should push on the chest during CPR.

Thanks to a grant from Anthem’s corporate foundation, the American Heart Association’s nationwide Hands-Only CPR awareness campaign and tour is coming to the Granite State May 20 – 23, with free educational programs planned for Portsmouth, Manchester, Nashua, and Concord. 

Nearly 400,000 Americans suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year, and almost 90 percent of them die because they don’t receive immediate CPR from someone on the scene. When begun immediately, CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.

"People feel more confident performing Hands-Only CPR and are more likely to remember the correct rhythm when trained to the beat of 'Stayin' Alive,'"said Amy Dumont, MSN, RN, CCRN, Vice President of Patient Care Services at Frisbie Memorial Hospital and Board Chair of the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Heart Association. "Not only is it a fun, catchy and memorable way to remember what to do, but it works – people's lives have been saved because of it."

The Portsmouth event is Tuesday, May 20, at Families First on the Community Campus, 100 Campus Drive, Portsmouth. It is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

It is free and open to the public. 

Each session will last about 30 minutes. Walks-ins are welcome, but American Heart Association recommends people guarantee a slot with pre-registration:

Please visit www.heart.org/newhampshire to register.