International Aquatic History Symposium and Film Festival 2012 21 Facts, Legends and Myths on the Evolution of Resuscitation Stathis Avramidis Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Greece); Leeds Metropolitan University (UK); The Lifesaving Foundation (Ireland) Abstract that have been reported in the literature on the history of resuscitation. In particular, this review presents remarkable resuscitation attempts, innovative techniques and landmarked events that enhanced resuscitation in terms of science, history and intervention from ancient times until today. The resuscitation methods were designed for victims needing help in various locations of three-dimensional space, with emphasis on those occurring on, or brought to, land. These methods required single or double rescues to be carried out. Some of them were either empirically or scientifically designed. In some techniques, the stimuli used to revive the victim were rather painful and dangerous or at least disturbing. In some techniques, respiration was attempted with various more or less sophisticated devices. Finally, a small number of cases have been mistakenly reported by previous scholars as resuscitation attempts. Keywords: drowning, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, emergency, history, art, medical history, first aid. Scholarly work about resuscitation is extensive on most aspects, but limited in historical references. More precisely, a related search in the data base, Medline, using as key words - several thousand published works that deal exclusively with this subject in terms of prevention, rescue and treatment. However, limited scholarly attention has been given to the historical route followed since the first reported resuscitation attempt. A similar search identified only a few publications that dealt with how resuscitation has evolved through the centuries. Consideration of this lack of published evidence on the history of resuscitation raises several questions. Was the resuscitation of an apparently dead person always the same? Were resuscitation methods always scientifically established? How was resuscitation performed through the centuries? Was any equipment used during resuscitation attempts? Are there any facts and myths associated with the evolution of resuscitation internationally? Answering these questions may be meaningful for a number of reasons. First of all, we will be able to overview the evolution of resuscitation and, therefore, know how techniques were developed through the centuries. Second, we will be able to identify whether any progress has been made in the thinking on medical and emergency response. Third, we will discover whether the development of resuscitation methods that aimed to save lives was an issue that has concerned scientists (e.g., doctors and researchers) and emergency professionals (e.g., lifeguards, rescuers etc) locally or internationally. Finally, such an overview will be interesting from a historical point of view, as we will be able to synthesize into a single study, and therefore witness the evolution of the most important aspects in first aid and emergency care. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to review the literature identifying various resuscitation methods that have been suggested and used from the past to the present, as well as to evaluate their content.