The Eve Method for Saving Drowning Victims (1940s)

Posted by Alex in Medicine, Pictures, Sports on November 14, 2007 at 1:15 am


From the August 1946 copy of Popular Science, here’s an article by Leon Shloss on ways to save someone from drowning (before the advent of modern CPR techniques). To wit, the "Eve Method," which was invented by Dr. Frank C. Eve.

Eve: The rocking ventilates the lungs by alternately pushing and pulling the diaphragm up and down. At the same time, blood is forced through the oxygen-starved heart muscle, helping to start it or to restore a feeble beat. Further, the nerve cells of the brain and breathing center receive blood at normal pressure. When the feet-down tilt is made, blood from the extended arms fills the heart and encourages it to beat and pump. Dr. Eve goes beyond the blankets-for-warmth phase, when the equipment is available, in recommending application of hot bottles over the neck to revive the chilled nerve cells at the base of the brain.

And of course you’ll find boulders, boards, and ropes on just about every instance where you need to revive someone! Link – via Okfuture, thanks Dan!

If you read the article, you’d notice a reference to the Schafer Method of Resuscitation – if you’re curious, here’s how it was performed.


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10 comments to "The Eve Method for Saving Drowning Victims (1940s)"

  1. John
    November 14th, 2007 at 5:51 am

    It's like waterboarding in reverse.

  2. Antilos
    November 14th, 2007 at 7:31 am

    I can't believe my eyes, well it looks both like a waste of time and a prank :) )

  3. SecretSoul
    November 14th, 2007 at 8:09 am

    When you finish building that board, the victim is already dead.

  4. Johnald_Chaffinch
    November 14th, 2007 at 9:42 am

    yeha, er.. don't do this!

  5. NORAN
    November 14th, 2007 at 10:14 am

    i wonder if there is listed the number of saves from this method anywhere?

  6. l'elk!
    November 14th, 2007 at 10:33 am

    making a seesaw out of a drowned corpse? brilliant!

  7. Sid Morrison
    November 14th, 2007 at 10:37 am

    Seems like having a dedicated contraption already in place at large swim areas wouldn't be all that difficult. Doing a makeshift one ad hoc out of available materials (as described) sounds pretty sketchy, though. It would be a major skavenger hunt...

    Given a purposed-designed gizmo, I wonder how well it works compared to modern methods.

  8. Vonskippy
    November 14th, 2007 at 7:27 pm

    Since your feet don't go numb and turn gangrenous due to lack of blood when you stand on your head, it's safe to say that the heart pumps the blood at a pressure that exceeds the force of gravity. Therefore it's unlikely that a seesaw action would move the blood at all, let alone enough to prevent brain hypoxia.

  9. algonkin
    November 14th, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    Ya but... what if you swallowed a grape? Is this a new way to make wine?

  10. kaviraj
    October 15th, 2008 at 6:09 am

    give more picture so the student can get it for there projects,erc.


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