In 1857, Marshall Hall advanced the chest-pressure method, which was modified in 1861 by Silvester to become the chest-pressure arm-lift method in supine patients.14 Variants of this technique continued to be practiced with fervor until the 1960s.15 A series of elegant experiments directed by Archer Gordon, James Elam, and Peter Safar demonstrated that the prone position, which was advocated by some, did not allow a consistently patent airway for air exchange and that expired air did indeed provide sufficient oxygen for effective artificial ventilation (Figure 1).16–20 Initially, tools for respiratory resuscitation were exclusively in the domain of emergency medical services and were not available in hospitals.