(Lindsey Theis/ Fox News) — Missy Elliot. Hanson. Wilson Phillips. This isn’t a Flashback Friday playlist — they’re CPR aides, and a catchy ’90s tune is now being added to the list — “Macarena.”
“Just having music out there to help as a memory aid is really important,” said Lana Gent of the American Heart Association.
When done correctly, performing CPR until a person can get to a hospital can double or even triple their chance of surviving cardiac arrest. And to do it correctly, the American Heart Association says people need to deliver about 100 2-inch deep compressions per minute to the victim.
Cue the music. Research shows people are more likely to hit a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute if they’re trained to the beat of a familiar song. The AHA has long recommended the Bee Gees’ 1977 hit “Stayin’ Alive,” which clocks in at 103 beats per minute.
“What we did discover was younger audiences were not so into disco or know some of those songs,” Gent said.
“Macarena” is also 103 BPMs. In the new “Macarena” study, researchers split medical students into three CPR practice groups. They told one group to just try to hit 100 compressions per minute. Another got help from a metronome smartphone app, and a final group was told to think about “Macarena” while delivering compressions. They found the metronome and “Macarena” groups hit the target range of 100 to 120 BPM significantly more than the control group. (…)