History of cardiopulmonary resuscitation

The history of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be traced as far back as the literary works of ancient Egypt (c. 2686 – c. 2181 BC).[1] However, it was not until the 18th century that credible reports of cardiopulmonary resuscitation began to appear in the medical literature.[2]

Mouth-to-mouth ventilation has been used for centuries as an element of CPR, but it fell out of favor in the late 19th century with the widespread adoption of manual resuscitative techniques such as the Marshall Hall method,[3] Silvester's method,[4] the Shafer method[5] and the Holger Nielsen technique.[6] The technique of mouth-to-mouth ventilation would not come back into favor until the late 1950s, after its "accidental rediscovery" by James Elam.[7]

The modern elements of resuscitation for sudden cardiac arrest include CPR (consisting of ventilation of the lungs and chest compressions), defibrillation and emergency medical services (the means to bring these techniques to the patient quickly).

  1. ^ Baker, AB (1971). "Artificial respiration: the history of an idea". Medical History. 15 (4): 336–51. doi:10.1017/s0025727300016896. PMC 1034194. PMID 4944603.
  2. ^ Tossach, W (1744). "Man dead in appearance recovered by distending lungs with air". Medical Essays and Observations. Vol. 5, Part 2. London and Edinburgh: T.W. and T. Ruddimans. pp. 605–8.
  3. ^ Hall, M (1856). "Asphyxia, its rationale and its remedy". The American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 32: 224–7.
  4. ^ Silvester, HR (1858). The true physiological method of restoring persons apparently drowned or dead, and of resuscitating stillborn children. London: John Churchill. pp. 17–18.
  5. ^ Schafer, EA (1904). "Description of a simple and efficient method of performing artificial respiration in the human subject". Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. 87: 609–14. PMC 2037067. PMID 20897023.
  6. ^ Nielsen, H (1932). "En oplivningsmetode". Ugeskrift for Læger (in Danish). 94: 1201–3.
  7. ^ Elam, JO (1977). "Rediscovery of expired air methods for emergency ventilation". In Safar, P; Elam, JO (eds.). Advances in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (1 ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 263–5. doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-6338-8_40. ISBN 978-1461263401.