Decades ago, a group of surf life savers volunteered for a groundbreaking medical experiment that tested different resuscitation techniques. Their bravery helped shape the lifesaving methods we use today.
Mr Dearlove was a young boy when his father, Jack Dearlove, and three other surf life savers put their bodies on the line in an extraordinary medical experiment more than 60 years ago. By voluntarily being anaesthetised and paralysed, these 'guinea pigs' helped pave the way for modern resuscitation techniques still in use today. 'They basically said to the anaesthetists, 'Well guys, why don't you kill us and bring us back to life?',' Grant Dearlove said.
In 1950s beach-loving Australia, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was not a new concept, but it wasn't popular until evidence emerged about its benefits, according to Dr Christine Ball, an anaesthesiologist and associate professor at Monash University. Dr Ball published a paper in the international journal Anaesthesia and Intensive Care on the groundbreaking experiments, which were a joint initiative between Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) and the medical fraternity to help drowning victims. 'It's an extraordinary thing to have committed to do, to allow yourself to be anaesthetised and paralysed for hours while people practise resuscitation techniques on you,' Dr Ball said. 'They showed an extraordinary commitment to Surf Life Saving Australia, to their fellow humans and to the cause that they all represent.' Experiments were first conducted at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1959 involving 10 volunteers over five weekends trialling different resuscitation methods.Over two weekends at Brisbane's St Andrew's Hospital, four committee members of Surf Life Saving Queensland — Earle Smith, Alan Doig, Jack Dearlove, and Bruce Campbell — volunteered to have their bodies experimented on by 100 participants in total.Instead of an operating table, the volunteers were positioned on the floor in their swimming trunks to simulate what would happen in real lif
RESUSCITATION MEDICAL EXPERIMENT SURF LIFE SAVING AUSTRALIA HISTORY
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