Resuscitation following cardiac arrest involves a life-saving
set of skills which are practised by healthcare workers
and trained laypersons throughout the world. Various
associations and groups, such as the European Resuscitation
Council (ERC) and the American Heart Association have
training programmes on resuscitation techniques using
standardized algorithms. There are different protocols for
different situations, using various pieces of equipment and
with a range of complexity, however the key aspects of modern
resuscitation remain the same; these are summarized by the ERC
guidelines as the “Chain of Survival” :
• Early recognition and call for help
• Early Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Early defibrillation
• Post-resuscitation care
This article focuses on the history and development of
the evidence behind some of the key aspects of modern
resuscitation: airway maintenance and breathing, circulation
and chest compressions, and defibrillatinpeer-reviewe
