Monday 7 May 2012

Song & Medical: Stayin' Alive -- Bee Gees & CPR


Image from The Journey Is Everything

A song with a beat of 104 beats per minute named "Stayin' Alive", what does it mean to you? Well, it means that maybe one day you can save someone's live by helping them Stay Alive!!!

How?

Well, first, you need to know the song.




Lyrics:

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.
Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around
Since I was born.
And now it's all right. It's OK.
And you may look the other way.
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man.

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin',
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive.

Well now, I get low and I get high,
And if I can't get either, I really try.
Got the wings of heaven on my shoes.
I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose.
You know it's all right. It's OK.
I'll live to see another day.
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man.

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin',
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive.

Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me, yeah.
Stayin' alive.

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.
Music loud and women warm,
I've been kicked around since I was born.
And now it's all right. It's OK.
And you may look the other way.
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man.

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin',
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive.

Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me, yeah.
I'm stayin' alive.

Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me, yeah.
I'm stayin' alive.

Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me, yeah.
I'm stayin' alive.

Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me, yeah.
I'm stayin' alive.


A very cool song sang with the most unique falsetto in the world!

CPR being performed on a medical-training
Image from wikimedia
Now, onto saving lives. Everyone knows what CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is, I suppose, but not everyone knows how to perform one. Here's a guide to everyone, even if you do know how to perform a proper one.

From Wikipedia,

"Stayin' Alive" was used in a study to train medical professionals to provide the correct number of chest compressions per minute while performing CPR. The song has close to 104 beats per minute, and 100-120 chest compressions per minute are recommended by the British Heart Foundation, and endorsed by the Resuscitation Council (UK). A study on medical professionals found that the quality of CPR is better when thinking about "Stayin' Alive..
....As per the American Heart Association, the beat of the Bee Gees' song Stayin' Alive provides an ideal amount of beats-per-minute to use for hands-only CPR."

Don't believe it? Try this radio sound bite by NPR (National Public Radio).


(Soundbite of song "Stayin' Alive")


SCOTT SIMON, host:
If this song has been running through your head for the last 30 years or so, there may finally be a good reason. A study by the University of Illinois College of Medicine has found that the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" has the utterly perfect beat for performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The 1977 disco hit contains 103 beats per minute. That's close to the recommended chest compression rate of 100 beats every 60 seconds.
Dr. David Matlock watched his 15 doctors and students perform CPR on mannequins as they listened to the song, then again a few weeks later when they were told to just keep this song in their heads. "It drove them and motivated them to keep up the rate," he told the Associated Press. Imagine, the song is so invigorating, it revives mannequins.
Now, "Stayin' Alive" is one of our Twitter entries this week. Twitter is a free social networking site that lets users send instant updates. Each message, known as a tweet, is like a blog post, but tweets are only 140 characters long. To find out how to follow our Twitter feed, visit our blog at npr.org/soapbox. Keep on tweeting.
(Soundbite of song "Stayin' Alive")
BEE GEES: (Singing) Got the wings of heaven on my shoes. I'm a dancing man and I just cant lose. You know its all right, its OK, I'll live to see another day. We can try to understand the New York Times effect on man. Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive. Feel the city breaking and everybody shaking, And were staying alive, staying alive...

Ken Jeong in Hangover
Even the American Heart Association has taken this seriously by inviting the not-so-serious-Hangover-star / highly-qualified Dr.Ken Jeong M.D. to promote the importance of knowing how to perform a CPR at the crucial moments. Watch the following funny video clip.


If you want to experience his brilliantly hilarious performance again, you can visit my entry named People: "Mr Chow, Leslie Chow!" -- Ken Jeong. If you want to be able to save lives one day, then you need to remember this great song by the Bee Gees!!!



Vocabulary:
falsetto -- (n) [C] (plural falsettosa form of singing or speaking by men using an extremely high voice
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) -- (n)[S] an emergency procedure which is performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person in cardiac arrest.
chest compression -- (n) [C] a technique used during cardiopulmonary resuscitation or for the treatment of choking
endorse -- (vb) to make a public statement of your approval or support for something or someone
hilarious -- (adj) extremely funny and causing a lot of laughter

Resources:
Stayin' Alive @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stayin%27_Alive

Hands-Only CPR FAQs @ British Heart Foundation
http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/life-saving-skills/hands-only-cpr-faqs.aspx

Another Use For 'Stayin' Alive': Staying Alive @ NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96134166

Stayin' Alive -- Bee Gees @ Azlyrics
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beegees/stayinalive.html


CPR @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation

American Heart Association
http://www.heart.org/

Ken Jeong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Jeong


Ken Jeong AHA Hands-Only CPR video @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5hP4DIBCEE

People: "Mr Chow, Leslie Chow!" -- Ken Jeong @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/06/people-mr-chow-leslie-chow-ken-jeong_24.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/falsetto_1?q=falsetto+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chest_compression
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/endorse_1?q=endorse+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hilarious?q=hilarious+