Open Chest Heart Massage Before CPR

Before modern CPR was developed in the mid-20th century, the primary treatment for cardiac arrest was open cardiac massage, which involved surgically opening the chest to manually compress the heart. Physicians used their hands to keep blood circulating when the heart stopped, a method that was invasive and only possible in clinical settings. The introduction of closed-chest CPR later made life-saving resuscitation faster, safer, and possible outside operating rooms.

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