Member News
4th January 2012A new advertising campaign by the British Heart Foundation is urging the public to forget about "mouth-to-mouth" and to concentrate on chest compressions when performing CPR.
To the tune of Stayin' Alive, former Wimbledon football-turned actor Vinnie Jones appears in the new advert, which calls on the public to perform CPR "hard and fast".
Going through the process step-by-step, some of the advice given by Jones includes: "Push hard and fast [on the chest area] about two times a second, to the beat of Stay'in Alive."
Research shows continuous compressions at 110 to 120 beats per minute, the same as the Bee Gees hit, are more effective than trying to do CPR with a poor kiss of life technique.
In a poll for the BHF, almost half surveyed said they are put off helping when someone has collapsed with a cardiac arrest, because of a lack of knowledge about CPR. Whilst a fifth of respondents said they worried specifically about the thought of the kiss of life or catching an infectious disease.
And four in 10 said they were concerned about being sued despite the fact there has never been a successful case of this kind in the UK
Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the BHF, said: "It's very simple; call 999 and then push hard and fast in the centre of the chest at a tempo similar to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. If you're untrained or unconfident about the kiss of life, give hands-only CPR a go instead - it could help save someone's life."
Jones said: "There really shouldn't be any messing about when it comes to CPR.
"If you're worried about the kiss of life just forget it and push hard and fast in the centre of the chest to Stayin' Alive.
"Hands-only CPR should give have-a-go heroes the confidence to step in and help when somebody is in cardiac arrest."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd