The American Heart Association is adopting new cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) guidelines that do away with mouth to mouth resuscitation and focus on chest compressions. Do fast, forceful compressions; the beat of "Stayin' Alive" is the right pace - 100 beats per minute. Queen's "Another one bites the dust" was rejected as an alternative song choice.

Currently, this recommendation only applies to laymen CPR. The professional rescuers (EMTs, doctors, etc.) should use the previous approach with a compression-breathing (ventilation) ratio of 30:2.

However, “chest compression only” CPR is recommended if the rescuer is not trained (for example, in dispatcher assisted CPR) or is not willing to give rescue breaths. The aim is now to compress the chest to a depth of 5-6 cm (rather than 4-5 cm). This recommendation is based on several studies showing that deeper compressions were associated with improved short term outcomes.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows Matthew McConaughey the new way of doing CPR on Larry King Live.

Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (1977).

References:
New CPR is spelled C-A-B. CNN.
New international guidelines on resuscitation. BMJ, 2010.

Updated: 10/27/2010