Discovering a “lifesaving beat” with BHF and Spotify

By Dr. Jonathan Shurlock

Restart a heart day took place on 16th October 2022. As part of the British Heart Foundation’s awareness campaign “Life Saving Beats” was launched on Spotify.

The campaign focuses on the importance of a rate of 100-120bpm when performing chest compressions and allows members of the public to listen to any of their favourite songs at this tempo while learning CPR. The training takes 15 minutes and is coordinated through the RevivR training tool, which is free to use for anyone with internet access and a pillow.

BHF Chief Executive Dr Charmaine Griffiths spoke of how this concept has developed from previous BHF awareness efforts including their acclaimed advert featuring Vinnie Jones performing CPR to the tune of Stayin’ Alive. Dr Griffith’s hope is that this campaign can be used to allow people to “discover their own lifesaving beat” and encourage engagement with learning CPR.

The website www.lifesavingbeats.com can be used to generate a playlist of personalised songs at the correct tempo for chest compressions, which can then be shared with other users and more broadly across social media.

The BHF RevivR tool can be found here: https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life