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BigClive
09-24-2007, 03:38 PM
I can't believe I found this....

To quote!

"A portable defibrillator was first developed at Johns Hopkins by Kouwenhoven, who was seeking a method to rescue electrocuted electrical line workers."

Or in other words the whole concept of an AED was first pioneered for YOU GUYS!!!!

But it gets better! When you read this article here:-

http://www.geocities.com/neveyaakov/electro_science/kouwenhoven.html

It reveals that he studied electrical engineering and when he was doing his research into external defibrillators it was noticed that the blood pressure rose when the pads were pressed onto the chest. This led to the development of...... CPR!

BigClive
09-24-2007, 03:47 PM
And there's more:

During the 1920s and 1930s, research in this field was supported by the power companies because electric shock induced ventricular fibrillation killed many power utility line workers. Hooker, William B. Kouwenhoven, and Orthello Langworthy produced one of the first successes of this research. In 1933, they published the results of an experiment, which demonstrated that an internally applied alternating current could be used to produce a counter shock that reversed ventricle fibrillation in dogs.

In 1947, Dr. Claude Beck reported the first successful human defibrillation. During a surgery, Beck saw his patient experiencing a ventricular fibrillation. He applied a 60 Hz alternating current and was able to stabilize the heartbeat. The patient lived and the defibrillator was born. In 1954, Kouwenhoven and William Milnor demonstrated the first closed chest defibrillation on a dog. This work involved the application of electrodes to the chest wall to deliver the necessary electric counter shock. In 1956, Paul Zoll used the ideas learned from Kouwenhoven and performed the first successful external defibrillation of a human.

William Bennett Kouwenhoven was born January 13, 1886 in Brooklyn. Trained as an electrical engineer, his most enduring contributions to science came from the medical arena. Using his electrical engineering background, Kouwenhoven invented three different defibrillators and developed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques.

In the 1920s, Kouwenhoven's interest crossed between electrical engineering and medicine. His engineering work focused on high tension wire transmission of electricity. Kouwenhoven became interested in electricity's possible role in reviving animals. He knew that when applied to the heart an electric current could start it again.

From 1928 through the mid-1950s, Kouwenhoven developed three defibrillators: the open-chest defibrillator, the Hopkins AC Defibrillator, and then Mine Safety Portable. These were intended for use within two minutes of the start of ventricular fibrillation, and at least one required direct contact with the heart. In 1956, Kouwenhoven began developing a non-invasive method. During an experiment on a dog, he realized the weight of the defibrillator's paddles raised the animal's blood pressure. Based on this Kouwenhoven developed CPR.

By the early 1960s, CPR was being used throughout the United States. Kouwenhoven's ground-breaking work was recognized by the medical community and the electrical engineering establishment. He was awarded the American Medical Association's (AMAj Ludwig Hekton Gold medal in 1961 and 1972, and the American Institute of Electrical Engineering's Edi-son Medal in 1962. Johns Hopkins bestowed Kouwenhoven with an honorary M.D. in 1969 (he is the only person to ever receive this honor). He won the Albert Lasker Clinical Research Award in 1973. Kouwenhoven died on November 10, 1975.