Professor Yuanchang Wang is the first person to invent external chest cardiac compression for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the world

Abstract

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is the most basic and important method to rescue the patient with breathing and circulatory arrest. Effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation can improve the survival ratio and the recovery of brain function. External chest cardiac compression was firstly reported for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the world by Professor Yuanchang Wang in the title of Accidents and its management during epidural anesthesia on Chinese Journal of Surgery published in 1957, who worked in anesthesiology department of Affiliated General Hospital, Tianjin Medical College. This is an important invention with milestone significance in the field of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and is a big contribution to the world medical science, which is ahead of the earliest report with global recognition by Kouwenhoven in the title of Closed-chest cardiac massage published on Journal of the American Medical Association in 1960. After that, Professor Wang continuously reported several papers about the experiences of applying this method to treat patients with cardiac arrest in detail. Therefore, it is obviouse that Professor Yuanchang Wang is the first person to propose the concept, theory and method of external chest cardiac compression in the world. Key words: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Yuanchang Wang; Pioneer; External chest cardiac compression