ABSTRACT
In 1960 Kouwenhaven and his colleagues first reported the technique of external cardiac massage as a means of maintaining the circulation.1 Twenty patients were successfully resuscitated from cardiac arrest, defined as the sudden cessation of the circulation resulting in loss of consciousness and death if untreated. The technique was used alone or in combination with artificial ventilation. This demonstration that opening the chest to massage the heart directly was not required led to the widespread dissemination of the new technique. It was seen as an increasingly effective treatment for ‘victims of acute insult-drowning, electric shock, untoward effect of drugs, anaesthetic accident, heart block, acute myocardial infarction or surgery’,2 i.e., to prevent sudden unexpected death.
