[History of electric defibrillation]

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is one of the most effective methods in rescuing those in critical situations. In recent decades, electric cardiac defibrillation has made the biggest advance in the field of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It has been found that the rate of successful resuscitation with electric defibrillation is much higher than by bare-handed or drug resuscitations by which more lives have been saved, has become the most essential and most important means of first aid. The history of the development of electric defibrillation is a successful modality of multidisciplinary cooperation of physicians, biologists, physiologists, and engineers. Although "early defibrillation" has been recognized as an idea of standard therapy and a basic measure of life support by international organizations as American Heart Association, it is far from being perfect and has a long way to go. A review of the history may help to bring the technique of electric defibrillation into perfection, and to save more lives in the future.