Claude Beck and Cardiac Resuscitation

Abstract The problem of sudden death due to derangement of the cardiac mechanism remained poorly defined into the 20th century. The physiologist Carl J. Wiggers proposed maintenance of the circulation by manual massage of the heart, followed by electrical defibrillation at a suitable time. His surgical colleague Claude S. Beck, with several associates, defined a precise sequence of steps for management of cardiac arrest in the operating room and was able to apply them clinically with complete success. Subsequently, patients were resuscitated outside the operating room as well; and finally, massage and defibrillation across the intact chest have made cardiac resuscitation available at any place or time.