‘Macarena’ rhythm improves life saving

USING the pop song Macarena to keep time improves the quality of chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, research shows.

Those using the Nineties Spanish dance hit to help them keep a steady rhythm fared far better than those left to their own devices – boosting survival chances – the research found.

Those given a smartphone metro- nome application did best of all. The study involved a group of 164 medical students asked to perform continuous chest compressions on a dummy for two minutes.

Those who performed resuscitation while replaying the Los del Río hit in their head performed three quarters of compressions at the recommended rate of between 100 and 120 per minute.

Only those who had an metronome app which gave a regular click or noise at a regular interval did better. But this group were slower in starting the compressions in the first place. Those in the Macarena group needed to prove first that they knew the song in order to do the compressions correctly.

The research was carried out by a team from the University of Barcelona, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. It found the average percentage of compressions in the target range of 100-120 bpm was significantly higher in the app and Macarena groups – 91 per cent and 74 per cent respectively – compared to the control group’s 24 per cent.

No group achieved the required compression depth of 5cm, but those using the app had the best overall quality compression scores, though they were the slowest to perform the first compression.

Prof Enrique Carrero Cardenal, the lead researcher, said: “Both the app and using mental memory aid Macarena improved the quality of chest compressions by increasing the proportion of adequate rate but not the depth of compressions. The metronome app was more effective but with a significant onset delay.”

The study was presented at the Euroanaesthesia congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.