Portable apparatus for the recovery of the apparently dead

Researching eponyms one encounters myriad examples of the arcane, the inane and the downright insane. However, buried within notable tomes laying derelict on library shelves, abound historical thoughts and designs prorogated by dust and our unerring desire for progress.

Reviewing the history of Brian Arthur Sellick (1918-1996) and the Sellick manoeuvre (cricoid pressure) which was ‘first described’ in 1961 gives us a chance to review the early pioneers,

The principal and anatomical rationale for the Sellick Manoeuvre was first described by John Hunter in 1776 in his article ‘Proposals for the recovery of people apparently drowned’. Others working in the field referenced Hunters work such as Charles Kite (1768-1811) in his 1788 essay on the recovery of the apparently dead…

In 1789 Savigny published a description of the construction and uses of a portable apparatus for the recovery of the apparently dead, notable for it’s catchy title and for the amazing prehospital resuscitation equipment replete with an ETT, NGT, OGT, bag…and rectal desufflator

References

• Hunter J. Proposals for the recovery of people apparently drowned. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 1776; 66: 412–25
• Kite C. An essay on the recovery of the apparently dead. London 1788
• Savigny JH. Description of the construction and uses of a portable apparatus for the recovery of the apparently dead : as recommended in an essay on the subject by Charles Kite. 1789
• Sellick BA. Cricoid pressure to control regurgitation of stomach contents during induction of anaesthesia. Lancet. 1961; 2(7199): 404-6.

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