Event Safety Insights Issue Three | Spring 2017 | Page 10

Non-Profit Profile
Keep the
Beat Alive
Rock-Doc and Tour Manager work together to
decrease cardiac death in the touring industry
By Shelby Cude
The touring industry has come a long way
over the decades. Some might argue that the industry has
evolved out of being a drug-fueled, rule breaking, “make-it-
work” way of life, into a more structured business, where cer-
tifications and regulations are becoming the new normal. As
productions have become more elaborate, requiring highly
skilled technicians, tighter time-frames and little to no room
for error, the hours are long and taxing, tour food isn’t always
the healthiest, and the unspoken reality is that personal health
becomes an afterthought.
The importance of having a few folks in any given setting who
can accurately preform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
or properly use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to
save a life is not news to any of us, however, how many of any
of you actually know what to do when someone stops breath-
ing? For respected Tour Manager and Audio Engineer, Chris
Musgrave, this question hits close to home.
In the fall of 2013 while traveling through Wilmington, NC.,
with the band Fuel, Musgrave suffered his – not first, nor sec-
ond, but—third heart attack and was rushed to the hospital.
The responding cardiologist, Dr. Damian Brezinski knew Mus-
grave prior to this moment but not for health-related reasons.
“I was working in the music industry and we crossed paths,
so he was a little surprised to find out what my day job was,”
said Brezinski. Brezinski matriculated at music school while at-
tending Harvard Medical School, in addition to chairing music
charities and working for production magazine, Pollstar, as a
photographer, which is where their paths crossed. This, how-
ever, was their first medical encounter.
Three stents and several days of recuperation in the ICU lat-
er, Musgrave and Dr. Brezinski discussed the need of a mu-
sic charity whose objective was to prevent premature cardiac
death in touring professionals.
And thus, the 501(c)3 non-profit, Keep the Beat Alive, was born
two years later. Geared specifically to the touring industry,
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Keep the Beat Alive not only travels to your tour rehearsal, day-
off, or venue to certify all crew members, artists, and/or venue
staff with proper CPR and AED use, but they will also outfit tour
buses, venues and production cases with AEDs, all for no cost.
All they ask is for a donation to help with future AED purchases.
“Cardiac death is the number one cause of death in touring
professionals,” Brezinski said. “If you add homicide, suicide,
accident, and overdose together you still don’t get to cardiac
death.”
It’s not lost on Keep the Beat Alive that it takes a village to be
able to effectively make a positive change in the lives of oth-
ers. Travel agent and friend of Musgrave, Nick Gold of Enter-
tainment Travel worked out a deal with Delta Airlines to pro-
vide free airfare for the Keep the Beat Alive team as they travel
to crews