BRIEF HISTORY OF CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION (CPR)

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Source: Kadena Air Base
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, also known by the acronym CPR, is a life saving technique and an emergency procedure performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who  is unconscious and not breathing  or has suffered cardiac arrest. It is a basic but proven first aid skill, practiced throughout the world. It is an effective method of keeping the victim alive long enough for definitive treatment to be delivered. The practice actually dates back to 1700s after The Paris Academy of Sciences officially recommended mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for drowning victims in 1740. 

While in 1767 in Amsterdam, the Society for Recovery of Drowned Persons was found with the sole responsibility of, as the name implies, rescuing those who fell into the dam or canals. This was as a result of the numerous dams and canals in and around Amsterdam, they were actually recording over 400 deaths a year as a result of drownings. This society later changed their name to the Royal Humane Society.

Despite it's early innovation and world wide acceptance as a way of resuscitating unconscious victims it still wasn't effective for victims who suffered cardiac arrest. Victims had to be rushed to the hospital before they can be resuscitated. Their chest had to be slit open before their hearts can be manually pumped. But in the 1950's Dr. James Jude, who was resident at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, made the discovery of applying manual pressure on the exterior of a patient's chest in a bid to resuscitate a patient who had suffered a cardiac arrest. Today CPR  intervention has been applied and used to prevent avoidable deaths. If the need arose, will you be "CPR-skilled" to help save a life?

#GetTheSkill
#BePrepared
#GetTheKit
#BeFABulous

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