Stayin’ Alive with the Bee Gees
Bookworm on Jul 02 2009 at 3:57 pm | Filed under: Uncategorized
I posted a Bee Gees video here a couple of weeks ago, as the beginning of my ongoing tribute to singing siblings. It turns out that the Bee Gees are useful for more than just rockin’ out. They can keep you alive:
Debra Bader was taking a walk in the woods with her 53-year-old husband one morning when suddenly he collapsed. At first she thought the situation was hopeless.
Debra Bader was prompted to perform CRP on her husband, Christopher, after recalling a public service ad.
“I looked at him and said, ‘He’s dead,’ because he wasn’t moving or making any sounds at all,” Bader remembers. “But I pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and called 911, and then a public service announcement I’d heard on the radio popped into my head.”
The one-minute PSA from the American Heart Association instructed listeners, in the event of cardiac arrest, to perform chest compressions very hard to the beat of the 1970s Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive.” When someone suffers cardiac arrest, as pop singer Michael Jackson did last week, the heart stops functioning completely, and brain death begins within four to six minutes if the victim doesn’t receive help.
“I sang the song and gave directions to the EMTs at the same time. It was like, ‘Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive — take a right here, take a left here — Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive — take this path down here — Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive,’ ” Bader remembers.
For 15 minutes Bader, who had never taken a CPR class, pumped her husband’s chest until the ambulance arrived and the EMTs delivered a shock to his heart with a defibrillator. Christopher Bader survived, but 95 percent of people who go into cardiac arrest die before they get to the hospital.
[snip]
For a quick, crash course on how to perform CPR, the University of Washington has a short video. You can find a CPR class in your area on the Web sites of the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.
The heart association started the “Hands-Only CPR” campaign last year, encouraging people to deliver chest compressions 100 times per minute. The song “Stayin’ Alive” has about that many beats per minute.
To help you get that song in your head:
(By the way, if you’re a fan of old movies, you’ll recognize that the video was shot on the old MGM back lot.)
Email This Post To A Friend
2 Responses to “Stayin’ Alive with the Bee Gees”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Stayin’ Alive inspires me in unexpected ways.
Here is the husband and wife team of Darlene and Johnathan Edwards doing their unique rendition of Stayin’ Alive. Mr. Edwards is on the piano.
Here is Darlene Edwards’s doppelganger, Jo Stafford, singing September Song.
Here Jo Stafford sings Stardust.
Jo Stafford /Darlene Edwards was capable of singing in a wide variety of styles, no? Please go to at least two of the videos. ( Johnathan Edwards= Paul Weston: Jo’s husband in real life.)
Anytime I hear this tune, I am torn between wanting to dance or pick up a can of paint and getting out the rollers and brush. (I see John Travolta walking down the street with a can of paint in his hand or going to the paint store to work, can’t remember the sequence at the moment).