It is nice to get a glimpse of how cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) started and developed, knowing the fact that it is a useful life-saver first aid practice that could be done by anyone. With this simple knowledge, you would be able to find out the prescribed way to perform CPR as well as other important related facts that could maximize the chances of the survival of the sufferer.
The first equivocally documented chest compression for humans was performed by Dr. Friedrich Maass in 1981. However, it was only in 1903 when Dr. George Crile successfully saved a person’s life through this first aid practice. He was also the first American to perform closed-chest cardiac massage, a year after that. Years went on and CPR was finally developed and taught to people by the American Heart Association in 1960. The year 1972 marked the program Medic 2, which was the world’s first mass citizen CPR training, which was held in Seattle, Washington. It was then in the 1990s when the early Public Access Defibrillation programs were initiated to host trainings and provide resources to the public so they would have something to use as an aid when doing CPR for emergency cases.
In 1999, the first task force for CPR as first aid was appointed and the first internal conference on CPR and ECC guidelines were developed. With the help of ILCOR, the American Heart Association released statements on proper and safe use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for children, especially those aging 8 years old and below. The 2005 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and ECC was then released by the 2005 International Consensus on ECC and CPR Science with Treatment Recommendations (CoSTR). Three years later, the AHA promoted the Hands-Only CPR that encourages anyone, including bystanders who serve as the immediate witness of any case of sudden collapse of a sufferer.
In the 50th Anniversary of CPR in 2010, the AHA revised the CPR and ECC Guidelines to include the latest developments in CPR practice along with other innovations brought by the latest technologies and scientific studies. To date, more and more people are becoming aware on the importance of knowing the prescribed means of performing CPR to a patient. This is probably one of the major effects of the worsening statistics of sudden cardiac arrest and other life-threatening heart diseases all over the world. Many ordinary people are now also becoming knowledgeable enough on the purpose and basic operation of AEDs, which are conveniently mounted on several important public places and made available for emergency cases.
Become one of the said people now. Don’t wait for the day where one of your loved ones loses his life just because you are not able to perform the necessary CPR to save him. Check out several institutions for emergency medical services where you can acquire a CPR training course. You can consider CityWide CPR if you are looking for one that provides excellent CPR training that maximizes your potentials as a life-saver in the best way possible.
