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Defibrillator
Claude Beck and James Rand, USA, 1947
Nine years later, in 1956, Paul Zoll et al used a more powerful unit to accomplish the first closed-chest defibrillation. |
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In
1947, Beck successfully defibrillated a 14-year-old boy whose heart
went into fibrillation after an operation. This defibrillator was
made by James Rand, a friend of Beck. The silver paddles (the size
of a large tablespoon) were for open-chest use. The circuit connected
the heart to the 110-VAC power line through an ammeter, a switch,
and a resistance adjustable between 10 and 35 ohms. The open defibrillator
is to the right -- the circuitry is reliable, but unsophisticated.
Rand made two defibrillators that first year of 1947: one is in
the Smithsonian, and one in The Bakken's collections.