Just outside the walls of the Vatican, the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” blared through speakers as healthcare workers tapped out chest compressions to the beat. Source: CNS.
“Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive,” sang the 100 red-shirted volunteers near the entrance to the Vatican Museums, using the Bee Gees’ disco anthem – with its tempo of 103 beats per minute – to guide tourists, pilgrims and even religious sisters through CPR basics.
The American Heart Association ran an open training event next to the Vatican to teach emergency resuscitation as part of programming for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers on April 5. Over two days, health care-related events were scheduled to take place throughout Rome before concluding with a Mass in St Peter’s Square April 6.
“Pilgrims that are passing by can learn, in just a few minutes, how to save a life,” Marida Straccia, global training organiser with the AHA, told CNS.
Ms Straccia emphasised that CPR is not just for healthcare professionals.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a layperson, a priest,” she said. “More than 80 per cent of cardiac arrests happen outside the hospital. Somebody could fall in front of you while you’re walking in a store, in the Vatican, and knowing what to do, even just how to call for help, it makes a difference in somebody’s life.”
Harim Lee, visiting from Los Angeles with her 14-year-old daughter, said the training was an unexpected but welcome part of their Jubilee pilgrimage. “I had no idea I’d be learning CPR,” she said. “But it’s wonderful, because most people think someone else will do it – but it’s so important that everyone knows how.”
Alessia Cambela, a healthcare worker and volunteer with the AHA, said she was surprised to see religious sisters stopping by the bustling square to learn CPR.
“Religious nuns asked us to teach them how to perform CPR and I think it’s great,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you do in your life, but we can all learn how to save a life.”
FULL STORY
Tourists, pilgrims, religious learn CPR during Jubilee of the Sick (By Justin McLellan, CNS)
