CPR in Entertainment: The Abyss

There’s a scene of CPR in the film The Abyss. It is a bit of a longer scene. While the CPR proves to be successful, it avoids some of the cliches that happen. The CPR isn’t clean, nor is it very pretty, which tends to happen in many of the films that portray it.

I’ve not seen The Abyss, and only just found the scene in question. It gets most of the CPR right, with the person performing it with straight arms and the head tilted so the airway is opened. The rest falls into the realm of fiction, leading to Ed Harris slapping the woman in the face a few times in frustration while shouting at her to come back. It is only after this that she is revived. It is ridiculous, but seemed to captivate the audience at the time the movie was released.

Summary of The Abyss

When the crew of an underwater oil rig are enlisted to assist in the rescue of an American nuclear submarine at the height of the Cold War, they discover a strange and mysterious force living in the deep and their rescue mission becomes an adventure into the wondrous and the unknown.

CPR in Entertainment is a series based on rescue scenes found in both TV shows and movies. If you have a suggestion for a future entry, please comment below!