history of cpr and definition essay

History of cpr and definition

Definition

which is cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a technique that is used as a life saving skill that helps keep someone who is suffering from cardiac arrest alive long enough to get to the hospital for treatment. This first aid skill had started to become available in the early 18th century and it was turned into an effective life saving method in the 20th century.

History

The first time CPR was heard of, was in a biblical story about the prophet Elijah. The story mentioned that Elijah was involved in bringing a child back to life. It tells of a mother who brought her child to Elijah. The child was so sick that he was not breathing and the woman asked Elijah for help. He carried the boy to a bed and prayed to the Lord. While doing this he stretched out himself on top of the boy three times. Then, the Lord heard Elijah’s voice and the boy came back to life. There is also another biblical story about the disciple of Elijah, Elisha. In this story, Elisha places himself over a boy with his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. The boys body became warm and he stepped down, walked up and down the room, then he got on top of the boy and bent over him. At this point, the boy sneezed seven times and he awakened and opened his eyes. It is said that the weight of Elisha compressed the child’s chest and that Elisha’s beard tickled the boys nose which caused him to sneeze. This was also known as the origin to the phrase, God bless you. In the early ages, different techniques were adopted that were the first attempts at resuscitation. One method was the Flagellation Method that was used in the Early Ages. This method involved a person actually whipping the victim to try and stimulate some type of response. Another method that was used was the Inversion Method. This was used in 1770. This method involved hanging the victim from his feet, with chest pressure to aid in exhaling and pressure release to help with inhaling. This technique was used in Egypt for 3,500 years and became popular in Europe. Another method was the Barrel Method that was used in 1773. This method involved the use of a wooden barrel to force air in and out of the victim’s chest. A person would put the victim on the barrel and roll him or her back and forth which would result in forcing air in and out of the chest cavity. One more method that was unique is the Trotting Horse Method. This was used in 1812 by lifeguards that had horses. They would rescue the victim, then place them on top of the horse and run the horse up and down the beach. This was suppose to result in an alternate compression and relaxation of the chest cavity from the bouncing of the body on the horse. This technique was banned in the United States in1815 because of several complaints from the Citizens for Clean Beaches. Some highlights in history on CPR are: In 1740, the Paris Academy of Sciences officially recommended mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for drowning victims. In 1891, Dr. Friedrich Maass performed the first equivocally documented chest compression in humans. In 1903, Dr. George Crile reported the first successful use of external chest compressions in human resuscitation and in 1904, he performed the first American case of closed-chest cardiac massage.

In the 18th century, the first city to teach and promote resuscitation was Amsterdam. In August of 1767, the Society for Recovery of Drowned Persons formed and it was the first organized effort to respond to sudden death. Their methods to stimulate the body involved several techniques. They recommended to first warm the victim, positioning the victim’s head lower than feet to remove water, applying pressure to the abdomen. Next they recommended respiration into the victim’s mouth, tickling the victim’s throat, stimulating the victim with rectal and oral fumigation using tobacco smoke, then last, bloodletting. The first four techniques are still in use today. Some highlights in history are: in 1956, Peter Safar and James Elam invented mouth to mouth resuscitation. In 1957, the U.S. Military adopted the method to revive unresponsive victims. In 1960, CPR was developed. In 1972, Leonard Cobb held the worlds first mass citizen training in CPR in Seattle, Washington that was called Medic 2. He helped in the training of over 100.000 people the first two years of the programs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all of the people who used different CPR techniques had one goal, and that was to save a persons life. CPR techniques have changed and have come a long was since the Early Ages and techniques keep on changing and improving until this day. CPR is an important part of first aid skills and it will continue to save thousands of lives each year.

References

Works Cited
for more info and practice
History of CPR. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 April. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_CPR

History of CPR. UKDivers. 6 April. 2008. http://www.ukdivers.net/history/cpr.htm

History of CPR. American Hear Association. 6 April. 2008.