Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2023; 120(7): e20230492

Ventilation and Respiratory Parameters in CPR: Where are We and Next Steps!

Hélio Penna Guimarães

DOI: 10.36660/abc.20230492

This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Use of a Portable Mechanical Ventilator during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is Feasible, Improves Respiratory Parameters, and Prevents the Decrease of Dynamic Lung Compliance".

The first mention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation refers to the moment of Adam’s creation, in which God “breathed into his mouth, giving him life.” The Bible also mentions, in the book of the Kings, prophet Elisha, a disciple of Elijah, who revived a young son of a Shunamite widow, whose description is less symbolic and more precise in its detailing, being considered by many historians to be the first account of CPR maneuvers. “… and he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes,” maneuver performed by Elisha, narrated in II Kings 4:34-35141.

Paracelsus evaluated, in 1530, the use of fireplace bellows to introduce air into the lungs of apparently dead individuals, characterizing the first and rustic attempts at artificial ventilation, based on the current principle of positive pressure ventilation using the bag-valve-mask units.

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