What Is the History of CPR?

Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) became well-known in the 1960s and 1970s. Today it is a method taught to millions of people each year. Some variation of these methods have been in use since biblical times and have changed drastically over the centuries, evolving into what we now use today.

Early Civilization

• The Bible mentions an early attempt at mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The middle ages developed methods to warm bodies with hot water or warm ashes. Even methods such as whipping were employed.

1530 to 1711

• Bellows were a widely-used method of resuscitation. Resuscitators using the same principle were invented. Later they proved this could distend the lungs and cause death. Another method invented was fumigation, which involved the blowing of smoke into the rectum.

1740 to 1770

• The Paris Academy of Sciences prescribed the use of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as the method for reviving drowning victims. The Society for the Recovery of Drowned Persons is formed.

1773 to 1856

• Various methods were invented, including rolling the person on a barrel, freezing the body, riding the person on a trotting horse and manually rolling the person back and forth. Most of these were designed to compress and expand the chest, drawing air inside.

1891 to 1957

• The first chest compression on a human was demonstrated and later used by Dr. Crile in 1903. In 1904 Crile performed closed-chest cardiac massage on a human. Mouth to mouth resuscitation was used during the Second World War. In the 1950s the American Red Cross began to educate the public about this method.

1960 to Present Day

• CPR, employing both chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth, was developed in the 1960s. In 1966 official standards and training were developed and in the 1970s CPR began to be widely taught. In the 1980s emergency dispatchers were taught to assist with CPR over the phone---something still used today.