Development of cardiopulmonary–cerebral resuscitation in the twentieth century

The resuscitation greats. Cemil Topuzlu Pasha: one of the forgotten pioneers in the history of open chest cardiac massage

One of the pioneers of open chest cardiac massage was Cemil Topuzlu Pasha, in Turkey. He presented his experience in open heart cardiac massage in several papers published in Ottoman and French and German. On 27 August 1903 one of his patients undergoing external urethrotomy under chloroform anaesthesia developed cardiac arrest and he performed open chest cardiac massage. He reported his approach to this event and discussed the literature regarding resuscitation available at the beginning of 20th century. Meanwhile he had defined "Do Not Resuscitate" code in cases involving serious heart disease and other diseases where life expectancy is very short. The Ottoman version of his report is translated in this paper.

Temperature--the forgotten vital sign

OBJECTIVE

To improve the measurement of core body temperature in the resuscitation room.

METHOD

This work was undertaken in the Emergency Department (ED) of a large District General Hospital. The clinical notes for all admissions to the resuscitation suite during a 2 month period were reviewed to establish the frequency of temperature measurement. Following a simple educational program, performance was re-audited using the same methodology.

RESULTS

Of the first cohort 13.4% had had their temperature recorded. This improved to 71.6%.

CONCLUSIONS

The measurement of body temperature in the resuscitation room is important as hypothermia has profound effects on the cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and haemostatic systems. Clinical audit highlights poor current performance and enables improvement of practice through simple education.