Mac and Dennis Aren’t Wrong: ‘Bamboléo’ Can Technically Be Used for CPR
Mac McDonald and Dennis Reynolds were never cut out to be EMTs. The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia duo’s recent stint as paramedics famously ended with multiple capsaicin burns and a scorched, jail-bound Lawyer following in the footsteps of fellow Paddy’s Pub victim, Rickety Cricket.
Despite this trail of destruction, there is one thing Mac and Dennis got right about emergency medicine: The ‘80s hit “Bamboléo” could technically be used in CPR.
Keeping a consistent rate of chest compressions is a key element of the lifesaving procedure. When administered at the correct pace of 100 to 120 beats per minute, CPR can help keep oxygenated blood flowing to both a patient’s brain and vital organs during cardiac arrest.
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Most experts, including Mac and Dennis’ EMT instructor, encourage folks to use the Bee Gees’ song “Stayin’ Alive” to help them keep this pace, but any song with a BPM between 100 and 120 BPM could theoretically work — “Bamboléo” included.
Clocking in at exactly 120 BPM, the Flamenco Pop classic is at the high end of this range, but might still be effective with one caveat: Whoever is administering the procedure must resist their Dennis-ian urge to lean into the “spicier” elements of the song.
“If you’re not double-timing like Dennis, theoretically, ‘Bamboléo’ COULD work as a song to perform CPR on someone to,” a Redditor wrote of the song’s potential efficacy on the Always Sunny subreddit. The track, they noted, would only be effective in keeping the pace so long as the CPR administrator focused on “Bamboléo’s” beat alone.
“You just keep doing a 4-beat-per-measure rhythm like you would for the rest of the song,” they explained when asked about the song’s fast-paced bridge. “Basically, if you listen to a metronome set at 120 BPM, that’s the max speed to compress.”
While Mac and Dennis’ CPR method is sound, we still advise you to stay far, far away from the hot peppers during an emergency.