A history of mechanical devices for providing external chest compressions

SummaryThe importance of providing good quality chest compressions with limited interruptions has been emphasised by the Resuscitation Guidelines 2005. The difficulties of providing consistent, good quality, chest compressions manually are well documented and attempts have been made to devise mechanical means to achieve this. Many see the development of mechanical devices as a new phenomenon; however, as with many other components of resuscitation science, they have in fact been available for a number of years. This paper provides a brief historical review of some of the mechanical devices which have been invented over the last 45 years in order to deliver external chest compressions. It also suggests some reasons why these devices failed to become a regular part of resuscitation practice.