Modern Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was developed in the late 1950's and early 1960's.  The discoveres of mouth to mouth ventilation were Dr. James Elam and Dr. Peter Safar.  Though mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is described in the Bible, mostly performed by midwives to resucitate newborns, it fell out of practice until it was rediscovered in the 1950's.

In early 1960, Dr. Kouwenhoven, Dr. Knickerbocker, and Dr. Jude discovered the benefit of chest compression to achieve a small amount of artificial circulation.  Later, in 1960, mouth-to-mouth and chest compression were combined to form CPR similar to the way it is practiced today.

Today CPR is responsible for saving thousands of lives each year.  Although there are no realiable national statistics on CPR, many studies in specific communities are all consistent in showing the benefits from early CPR.