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'Stayin' Alive' in Rhythm With CPR

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 16, 2008 5:54 PM CDT

(Newser) – Disco may be dead, but it can still help others live. So say University of Illinois researchers, who found that med students performed CPR more effectively to the beat of the Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive,” notes the Health Blog of the Wall Street Journal. Seems the song has 103 beats per minute, and CPR guidelines call for 100 compressions per minute.

"This study, which will be presented later this month at an emergency medicine conference, is too small to prove much of anything," writes blogger Jacob Goldstein. "And if you want to see if music makes people do better, you should compare two groups, one of which trains with music and the other trains without music. But, come on. The Bee Gees? Chest compressions? How can a blogger resist?"

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

At 103 beats per minute, the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" has almost the perfect rhythm to help jump-start a stopped heart. (AP Photo)

Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees arrives at Grosvenor House in London in 2007 to attend the Ivor Novello Awards. (AP Photo/Max Nash)

In this 1979 file photo, The Bee Gees, from left, Maurice, Robin and Barry Gibb perform in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo)

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The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive." (maz50)

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