Article written by Clay Dalton, via https://www.npr.org on 29 May 2023
The discovery that chest compression could circulate blood during cardiac arrest was first reported in 1878, from experiments on cats.
In the 1970s, CPR classes were developed for the public, and CPR became the default treatment for cardiac arrest.
The allure of CPR is that “death, instead of a final and irrevocable passage, becomes a process manipulable by humans,” writes Stefan Timmermans, a sociologist who has studied CPR.
Instead, if CPR would likely be futile, doctors could recommend “allow natural death” instead of “do not resuscitate,” suggests Ellen Goodman, director of a non-profit that encourages end-of-life conversations.