Vinnie Jones' CPR ad gets thumbs up from watchdog

London, Apr 11 (ANI): Vinnie Jones has helped save the lives of 15 heart attack victims with his CPR heart ad, it emerged on Tuesday.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said viewers had "put the advice into action" after seeing the 47-year-old push down on a man's chest in time to the Bee Gees' song 'Stayin' Alive', the Sun reported.

The commercial featuring the former footballer carrying out CPR was given a go ahead by the advertising watchdog after complaints were filed that he performed the resuscitation technique incorrectly.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) TV and internet campaign showed him using 'hands-only' CPR.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said 20 people had complained that the advert could lead to unsafe behaviour.

But the authority said that the ad had been prepared with the help of the UK's Resuscitation Council and it was in line with European Resuscitation Council guidelines.

In the advertising campaign, Jones says: "There are times in life when being tough comes in handy. Say some geezer collapses in front of you. What do you do? We need a volunteer that ain't breathing."

An apparently unconscious man is slid across the floor to him.

Jones continues: "First off you call 999. Then no kissing. You only kiss your missus on the lips."

He is then shown carrying out "hard and fast" chest compressions to the beat of the Bee Gees' song 'Stayin' Alive'.

The ASA said people complained the ad was harmful because they believed it showed incorrect CPR methods.

The BHF said the campaign aimed to increase bystander intervention in instances of cardiac arrest.

It added that fewer than 10% of people suffering a cardiac arrest out of a hospital survived - a survival rate which it described as "appalling".

The BHF said that while chest compressions could occasionally injure a casualty, a broken rib or bruising was a small price to pay.

"We noted the ad aimed to teach untrained individuals how they could help in situations where CPR was required, noting the on-screen text and voice-over at the end of the ad that stated: 'Hands-only CPR. It's not as hard as it looks'," the BBC quoted the ASA as saying.

"We considered that that made clear the ad was teaching hands-only CPR, and did not believe that trained individuals would consider the messages of the 40-second ad to override their own CPR training.

"Because the ad showed correct techniques for hands-only CPR, we concluded the ad was not harmful and did not encourage unsafe behaviour," it added. (ANI)