Health | Wander through a rhythmic wonderland of Christmas carols that might help save lives

When you hear a favourite holiday music, it’s possible you’ll not immediately associate it with CPR.

“You can really save a life just by doing simple chest compressions and pushing hard and fast,” he said. “And music can help you remember how fast is fast.”

The American Heart Association estimates that about 350,000 people within the United States who usually are not hospitalized every year experience cardiac arrest, by which the guts suddenly stops beating. If performed immediately, cardiopulmonary resuscitation can double or triple an individual's possibilities of survival by sending blood to the brain and other vital organs. But only an estimated 40% of individuals receive bystander CPR.

The first steps in performing CPR don’t involve music. “Anytime someone collapses and you can’t wake them up, you need to call 911 immediately,” Hafner said. Dispatchers can walk you thru the steps of CPR, even should you usually are not trained.

While one other person retrieves an automatic external defibrillator (AED) (if one is nearby), place the heel of your hand in the middle of your chest on the nipple line. Place your other hand on top and interlace your fingers. Start at a speed between 100 and 120 beats per minute.

Don't worry about being perfect, Hafner said. But this rhythm is very important. “If you walk too fast, the heart doesn't have enough time to fill with blood, and if you walk too slowly, not enough power is produced. So you want to be in the sweet spot between 100 and 120 compressions per minute.”

This is where it is useful to have some music in your head. “To make that possible, you need some kind of internal metronome,” said Hafner. “And everyone can hum a song in their head.”

Hafner led, amongst other things, Study 2015 A study published within the Journal of Emergency Medicine shows how people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation had higher results when taught to make use of the rhythm of the Bee Gees' “Stayin' Alive,” which has a tempo of 100 beats per minute. Since then, many other songs have been touted as potential lifesavers.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Pellegrino, an associate professor of emergency management and homeland security on the University of Akron in Ohio, said the strategy of using familiar music in CPR training works for several reasons.

“On the front end, it helps with training,” said Pellegrino, who led a Study review 2021 The value of using songs in CPR courses was examined. If a student already knows the song, it accelerates the educational process, he said.

And amid the stress of an actual emergency, “it's a shorter journey for our nervous system when we can remember something we already know,” Pellegrino said. “So that, ideally, we can respond better.”

The 100 to 120 beats per minute range is a “sweet spot” that takes into consideration the incontrovertible fact that not everyone has the right rhythm, he said. (People are inclined to progress slower than the actual songs.)

But to be well prepared, it’s worthwhile to know greater than just the catchy melodies.

“Frequency is just one of the quality components of CPR,” Pellegrino said. And while online videos like those from the AHA can teach the fundamentals, hands-on training provides essential practice in aspects corresponding to the depth of the squeeze (not less than 5cm). An easy option, he said, can be to gift someone a training course. Or usher in a CPR instructor to debate skills before the massive game or after dinner.

Learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation is particularly essential should you live with someone who’s prone to cardiac arrest, Hafner said. And anyone can perform CPR.

“You don’t have to be an adult to do it,” said Hafner. ” Children can do this. Teens can do that. It’s effective and helpful and really makes a difference.”

So provide the music. First, though, it's essential to notice that everybody has their favorite version of Christmas classics and the tempo varies depending on the performer. So while your personal playlist can include Andy Williams and Jimi Hendrix's “Little Drummer Boy” without cost, those are too slow for CPR, while versions by Justin Bieber and New Kids on the Block are too fast. But Bing Crosby's solo version (113 BPM) has the suitable beat.

Here are some Christmas songs with 100 to 120 beats per minute for performing CPR:

“Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms (120 BPM)

“I Am the Grinch” by Tyler, the Creator featuring Fletcher Jones (115 bpm)

“Jingle Bells” by Duke Ellington (109 BPM)

“El Burrito de Belén” (aka “Mi Burrito Sabanero”) by La Rondallita (105 bpm)

“Happy Joyous Hanuka” by the Klezmatics (116 bpm)

“Snowman” by Sia (105 bpm)

“Last Christmas” by Wham! (108 beats per minute)

“Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)” by Mariah Carey with Snoop Dogg and Jermaine Dupri (109 bpm)

“Eight Days of Christmas” by Destiny's Child (100 bpm)

“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” by NSYNC (105 bpm)

“Up on the Housetop” by Pentatonix (102 bpm)

“Santa Claus Doesn’t Know You Like I Do” by Sabrina Carpenter (100 BPM)

“Over the River and Through the Woods” by Alvin and the Chipmunks (109 BPM)

“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” by Elmo and Patsy (110 BPM)

“Where Are You at Christmas?” by Faith Hill (109 BPM)

“Candlelight” by the Maccabeats (120 bpm)

“Ay, Ay, Ay It's Christmas” by Ricky Martin (112 BPM)

“Winter Wonderland” by Ray Charles (110 bpm)

“Dreidel” by Erran Baron Cohen with Jules Brookes (105 BPM)

“Christmas Time Is Here” by John Legend (112 BPM)

And to maintain things happening New Year's Eve, listed here are a couple of bonus tracks:

“In the Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett (112 BPM)

“Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa (110 BPM)

“The Final Countdown” by Europe (118 bpm)

“Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg (108 bpm)

“1999” by Prince (119 BPM)

©2024 American Heart Association, Inc., distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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