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Resusci-Anne: Lifesaver extraordinaire Linda Duevel describes a fascinating backstory For educators with a love of history and learning, the backstory of ‘Resusci-Anne’ creates layers of fascination. It is a rare individual who does not recognise the CPR mannequin known as Resusci-Anne. We have encountered her face and pliable body in a physical education or health classroom, or perhaps as part of a scouting or other first-aid training course. But behind Anne’s inscrutable and enduringly calm face, there is a good story worth telling. Anne and her attached body came to life in the late 1950s in the beautiful seaside town of Stavanger, Norway. The man behind Resusci-Anne’s creation, Norwegian entrepreneur Åsmund Lærdal, owned a factory in Stavanger producing toys and children’s books. He was particularly interested in using modern techniques in molding soft plastic materials creating more realistic figures, and successfully marketed his toy cars and dolls in the European market. He also converted his growing knowledge into creating realistic-looking soft plastic “simulated wounds” which were of assistance in training local medical staff to treat injuries (Tjomsland, 2015). And then one day in 1954, a near tragedy created the ‘Aha Moment’ which would not only transform his life but would also create a tool to save lives far beyond Norway. Åsmund discovered his two-year old son, Tore, face down in water and drowning. The frantic father pulled his son out and worked to clear his airways of water. Luckily, Tore regained consciousness due to his father’s desperate attempts to revive him (Lærdal, 2013; Tjomsland, 2015). Following this terrifying episode, Åsmund Lærdal recognised the need for more bystanders who witnessed emergencies to know how to react in the critical first minutes, long before medical professionals could arrive. His understanding correlated with evolving work on CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, the combination of mouth-to-mouth breathing and external cardiac compression) being pioneered by Drs Bjørn Lind, Peter Safar, James Elam and Archer S Gordon. Because of Lærdal’s earlier work with creating simulated wounds, fellow Stavanger resident Lind reached out to discuss the concept of developing a mannequin for training in this new technique (Lærdal, 2013; Tjomsland, 2015). Tore Lærdal is now head of the Laerdal family company and foundations (note that while the correct spelling of the family name is Lærdal, the official global name of the company has been anglicized to Laerdal). As Tore describes his father’s next steps: ‘Innovation is about impact. Luck often strikes the prepared mind’ (Lærdal, 2013). Described by some as the ‘most kissed face’ in history, Resusci-Anne’s face once belonged to an actual young Spring
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woman. The mannequin’s face is modeled on the death mask of an unknown Paris drowning victim from the late 19th century known as the ‘Unknown of the Seine’. Tore Lærdal (2013) referred to Anne’s face in a TedX talk as ‘The face of death to become the face of life – the face of modern resuscitation’. Developing a prototype in 1960 was not enough to know whether Resusci-Anne could successfully be used to train non-medical bystanders in the actual use of CPR techniques. To test the theory, a study amongst 6,500 children in Stavanger area schools assessed whether they would learn better from using the mannequin than from more traditional lecture techniques on first aid. Following the success of the study with the school children, Åsmund Lærdal then convinced the local savings bank association to donate 700 mannequins to all schools in the country. Norway thus became the first country in the world to have compulsory training in CPR for all students (Lærdal, 2013). That early implementation and follow-up using education effectively has contributed to Norway’s global top ranking in bystander CPR use in emergency situations. Also, a higher percentage of people suffering cardiac arrest outside hospitals will survive in Norway than anywhere else in the world (Perkins et al, 2016). The success of Resusci-Anne as a teaching tool spread quickly, and today Laerdal is a global entity providing learning programs and equipment for life saving, long ago leaving
‘Unknown of the Seine’
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