By C1 Staff
Do you know how to perform CPR? It’s a lifesaving skill that more people should know, due to its usefulness in many types of emergencies. It’s better to do something than nothing at all, because it could mean the difference between life and death.
CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, involves chest compressions in an effort to create artificial circulation by manually pumping blood through the heart and thus the body.
It was first described by Doctor H.R. Silvester in the 19th century (he tried to dub it The Silvester Method) as a method of artificial respiration where the patient is laid on their back, with their arms raised above their head to aid inhalation, and then pressed against their chest to aid exhalation.
Later it was called the Holger Nielsen technique and outlined in the 1911 edition of the Boy Scout Handbook. This time the patient was laid face down with their head to the side, while pressure was applied at the patient’s elbows.
It wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that we got to the CPR we know today. Check out the video below to learn the basic techniques of CPR: