Disco hit Stayin' Alive can save lives: CPR study

It turns out that the disco classic Stayin' Alive may be aptly named.

A new study has found that listening to, or even thinking about, the Bee Gees song helped people doing CPR to time chest compressions accurately.

Researchers at the University of Illinois say the song, from the 1977 hit movie Saturday Night Fever, is set to a tempo of 103 beats per minute.

American Heart Association guidelines suggest people trying to save lives by doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, should aim for 100 chest compressions per minute.

Study participants were able to maintain a rate of 109 beats per minute when they performed CPR on a mannequin while listening to the song.

Five weeks later, when they were asked to repeat the task without the music playing, they achieved 113 beats per minute, a rate that is considered acceptably accurate.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada said it's too soon to adopt the musical technique, adding it's not yet clear the tool would work among people without medical training. Study participants were medical residents and interns.