'The Office' CPR Episode Just Saved Someone's Life

During The Office’s eight-year run, the show released a plethora of hilarious episodes we constantly still rewatch. From “Casino Night” to “Diversity Day” and more, the beloved NBC series provided us with some classic content for years to come.

But arguably one of the best and most well-known scenes of the series comes from “Stress Relief.” The episode features a part where Michael Scott arranges for a CPR training session for the employees, and it hilariously goes awry, as expected.

The session leads to Stanley having heart palpitations, a hilarious rendition of The Bee Gees’ "Stayin’ Alive," and Dwight’s Hannibal Lecter-like dissection of a test dummy.

As hilarious as the scene was, it’s obviously a terrible example of how to actually perform CPR... Or so we all thought. Two weeks ago, a shop technician at an auto repair shop in Tucson, Arizona actually used the scene as a source for saving a woman’s life.

The technician, 21-year-old Cross Scott, discovered a woman who was passed out, slumped over her steering wheel, with her lips turned blue. He broke a back window, opened her door and had to think of a way to save her.

Scott was never trained for performing CPR, so there was no recollection of past First Aid lessons. “I’ve never prepared myself for CPR in my life,” he told the Arizona Daily Star. “I had no idea what I was doing.”

Instead, the “Stress Relief” scene came to mind. And as awful of an example as the scene was, the one accurate aspect of it was using “Stayin Alive” as the correct tempo for chest compression.

As Scott began the compressions, he sang the song out loud, and says all he thought about was Michael’s face while singing the classic Bee Gees hit. After about a minute, the woman regained consciousness and took a breath. She was taken to the hospital and was checked out before Scott even got a chance to meet with her later that day.

It was truly a miracle, as paramedics of the Tucson Fire Department told Scott that had he not leaped into action, the situation would’ve turned out very differently.

So next time someone tells you to quit binging The Office on Netflix, just let them know you’re training for the inevitable scenario in which you must save someone’s life.

This article also appears on Mental Floss.