Doctor Damian Brezinski recently created a nonprofit called ‘Keep the Beat Alive’. The organization is dedicated to decreasing premature cardiac death in touring professionals.
Brezinski’s friend and patient Chris Musgrave spent more than 20 years in the music industry, but one day would be turning point for him.
4 comments:
I feel a little conflicted about this article because I expected cardiac death to be a huge issue in touring professionals due to eating out all the time, long days, and lots of travel. However, I’m really surprised by the fact that with all those cardiac-endangering aspects of the profession that AEDs and standard crew training was not already included in the touring lifestyle. I was trained for AED usage when I was in senior year of high school and just the idea of not having access or knowledge of one is kind of insane to me. I am happy to see that people are taking action after realizing the problems between touring and cardiac related deaths, as this has clearly not been addressed in the previous years of touring. I am more comfortable with the concept of going on tour after I graduate now that I am more aware of the potential safety issues that need to be addressed.
I agree with Kim on a lot of what she said. I too thought initially when I read the article headline it would be about the unhealthy lifestyles of professionals that are on tour. As someone who is interesting in touring as a career at some point, it is somewhat reassuring to know that steps are being taken to ensure the safety of workers. What the larger issue here is that touring is an industry that is not healthy, in any field really. And it takes a toll on people. I’m glad that people are talking about it because it is steps in the right direction. I found it interesting that someone in the video said that partying isn’t what it used to be on tours, however I feel like it may be the same or worse than before, however I could be totally wrong but given the scale of tours now, I like people may get more stressed out and look for outlets.
When the first AED was made available to the public in 1980, the ability to resound quickly was made much easier. What an AED can do in 5 minutes will extend the patients chances of living increases greatly. I think it is smart to have one available to every touring performer. Always being on the road can take serious toll on you body and having the proper equipment to do so is important. An AED is by no means a cure but it is machine that can do some very sophisticated tests that can’t be preformed but a human. It is so common to see this device in public setting and the operation is meant to be fool proof. I hope to see AED’s become a requirement for all tour buses and venues to ensure everyone’s safety. Every second counts when it comes to cardio vascular and cutting down on that time can be the difference between life and death.
Why are touring professionals dieing and suffering from cardiac arrest. I'm glad that this doctor is providing AEDs and training. I'm sure that it will scratch the surface of the problem. It just seems strange to me that this is the extent of his solution. When you're sick, you treat the cause of the issue, not just the symptoms. What aspect of the touring lifestyle is destroying its professionals? Can the industry cut down on tour size? Can it provide better sleeping accommodations? Better food? Can party culture be slowly killed off? There must be a treatable cause. This doctor's solution, while I'm sure it is making a huge difference, seems superficial. No matter how many AEDs happen to be around you, touring professionals are still having heart attacks. It's not okay. The health of your employees and yourself should come before the work.
On the lifestyle note, I was speaking to my mother about this article, and about how terrifying it was that heart problems are so prevalent in people on tour. Her immediate response was that it must have been the drugs. How did yours get such a bad reputation? Can we even start to fix the public image of touring professionals?
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