Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share What It Takes to Stop Death: CPR
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
What It Takes to Stop Death: CPR
đź”— Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons
When someone's heart stops, we instinctively hear one phrase:
"Start CPR."
But have you ever wondered where CPR came from—or what it's actually doing?
The truth is far stranger, and far more violent, than most people realize.
In this episode of The Cadaver's Lessons, we're tracing more than 4,000 years of humanity's attempts to reverse death. From rectal insufflation and tobacco smoke enemas to open-chest cardiac massage, mouth-to-mouth ventilation, defibrillation, and the birth of modern CPR, this is the incredible story of how medicine learned to fight death.
We also pull back the curtain on what CPR really looks like today. It isn't the clean, miraculous procedure portrayed on television. It often means broken ribs, prolonged resuscitations, heartbreaking decisions, and difficult conversations about survival versus quality of life.
đź“š ReferencesÂ
- StatPearls. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470402/
- Morrison LJ, et al. The History of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12637392/
- Johns Hopkins Medicine. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/extracorporeal-membrane-oxygenation
- Advances in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12225435/
- Panchal AR, et al. 2020 Adult Basic and Advanced Life Support Guidelines. Circulation. 2020. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7787697/
- Kleinman ME, et al. Adult Basic Life Support Focused Update. Circulation. 2018. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5964572/
- ECG Waves. The Physiology of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. https://ecgwaves.com/topic/the-physiology-of-cardiopulmonary-resuscitation/
- Brown Emergency Medicine Blog. The History of Resuscitation. 2022. https://brownemblog.com/blogposts/2022/1/21/the-history-of-resuscitation
**This Reference List has been shortened to meet character limits for full referenced please visit the link at the top, thank you!
View all episodes
By Bernadette & Samantha Smithđź”— Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons
When someone's heart stops, we instinctively hear one phrase:
"Start CPR."
But have you ever wondered where CPR came from—or what it's actually doing?
The truth is far stranger, and far more violent, than most people realize.
In this episode of The Cadaver's Lessons, we're tracing more than 4,000 years of humanity's attempts to reverse death. From rectal insufflation and tobacco smoke enemas to open-chest cardiac massage, mouth-to-mouth ventilation, defibrillation, and the birth of modern CPR, this is the incredible story of how medicine learned to fight death.
We also pull back the curtain on what CPR really looks like today. It isn't the clean, miraculous procedure portrayed on television. It often means broken ribs, prolonged resuscitations, heartbreaking decisions, and difficult conversations about survival versus quality of life.
đź“š ReferencesÂ
- StatPearls. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470402/
- Morrison LJ, et al. The History of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12637392/
- Johns Hopkins Medicine. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/extracorporeal-membrane-oxygenation
- Advances in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12225435/
- Panchal AR, et al. 2020 Adult Basic and Advanced Life Support Guidelines. Circulation. 2020. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7787697/
- Kleinman ME, et al. Adult Basic Life Support Focused Update. Circulation. 2018. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5964572/
- ECG Waves. The Physiology of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. https://ecgwaves.com/topic/the-physiology-of-cardiopulmonary-resuscitation/
- Brown Emergency Medicine Blog. The History of Resuscitation. 2022. https://brownemblog.com/blogposts/2022/1/21/the-history-of-resuscitation
**This Reference List has been shortened to meet character limits for full referenced please visit the link at the top, thank you!