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Although 'external cardiac massage' is known in medical history for
over a
century, it was in the late fifties and early sixties of the twentieth
century
when the technique was properly developed and evaluated in the United
States of America. The success rate was high in many cases by compression
alone without artificial ventilation. The first case of a successful pre-hospital
'closed cardiac resuscitation' was performed in Baltimore in the early
sixties.
In 1971, as a young general practitioner near Calcutta, I gave 'external
cardiac massage' on a fifty four year old man, neighbour of mine who had
gone into ' cardiac arrest' following a myocardiac infarction ( in the
presence
of grieving relatives). Luckily, the response was immediate and no
artificial
ventilation was necessary. Portable oxygen was brought in from a near by
chemist and administered. The patient refused hospitalisation. He was
treated
by his general practitioner, under supervision of a cardiologist. He
survived
another ten good years. External cardio pulmonary resuscitation was
generally unknown to the lay puplic in India in those days. So, failure
would
have landed me in great deal of trouble because of my antics on a dead
person.The incident was labelled as 'a dead man brought to life' and was
published as such in your esteemed journal as a "Filler" on JUNE 29 2002,
(VOLUME 324).
External Cardiac Massage
Although 'external cardiac massage' is known in medical history for
over a
century, it was in the late fifties and early sixties of the twentieth
century
when the technique was properly developed and evaluated in the United
States of America. The success rate was high in many cases by compression
alone without artificial ventilation. The first case of a successful pre-hospital
'closed cardiac resuscitation' was performed in Baltimore in the early
sixties.
In 1971, as a young general practitioner near Calcutta, I gave 'external
cardiac massage' on a fifty four year old man, neighbour of mine who had
gone into ' cardiac arrest' following a myocardiac infarction ( in the
presence
of grieving relatives). Luckily, the response was immediate and no
artificial
ventilation was necessary. Portable oxygen was brought in from a near by
chemist and administered. The patient refused hospitalisation. He was
treated
by his general practitioner, under supervision of a cardiologist. He
survived
another ten good years. External cardio pulmonary resuscitation was
generally unknown to the lay puplic in India in those days. So, failure
would
have landed me in great deal of trouble because of my antics on a dead
person.The incident was labelled as 'a dead man brought to life' and was
published as such in your esteemed journal as a "Filler" on JUNE 29 2002,
(VOLUME 324).
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests