Bob Foster, Director
125 North Bridge St., Suite 2
St. Anthony, Idaho 83445
208-624-7557
Fax 208-624-1543
The information contained here is to be used as an informational resource, but cannot replace real CPR or first aid training. Please try to attend a CPR or first aid training course in your community.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) consists of mouth-to-mouth respiration and chest compression. CPR allows oxygenated blood to circulate to vital organs such as the brain and heart. CPR can keep a person alive until more advanced procedures (such as defibrillation - an electric shock to the chest) can treat the cardiac arrest. CPR started by a bystander doubles the likelihood of survival for victims of cardiac arrest.
Modern CPR developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The discoverers of mouth-to-mouth ventilation were Drs. James Elam and Peter Safar. Though mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was described in the Bible (mostly performed by midwives to resuscitate newborns) it fell out of practice until it was rediscovered in the 1950s.
In early 1960 Drs. Kouwenhoven, Knickerbocker, and Jude discovered the benefit of chest compression to achieve a small amount of artificial circulation. Later in 1960, mouth-to-mouth and chest compression were combined to form CPR similar to the way it is practiced today.

