:Peter Safar

{{Short description|Austrian physician (1924–2003)}}

{{Infobox scientist

|name = Peter Safar

|image = Peter Safar.jpg

|birth_date = 12 April 1924

|birth_place = Vienna, Austria

|death_date = 3 August 2003 (aged 79)

|death_place = Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|residence =

|citizenship =

|nationality = Austrian

|ethnicity =

|field = Anesthesiology

|work_institutions =

|alma_mater = University of Vienna, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania

|doctoral_advisor =

|doctoral_students =

|known_for = Cardiopulmonary resuscitation

|influences =

|influenced =

|prizes =

|religion =

|footnotes =

|signature =

}}

Peter Safar (12 April 1924{{spaced ndash}}3 August 2003) was an Austrian anesthesiologist of Czech descent. He is credited with pioneering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Early life

Safar was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1924 into a prominent Jewish medical family.{{Cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Derek S. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Pediatric_Critical_Care_Medicine/ml5bx1PxxOQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR37 |title=Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: Basic Science And Clinical Evidence |last2=Wong |first2=Hector R. |date=2007 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-84628-463-2 |language=en}} His father, Karl Safar, was an ophthalmologist, and his mother, Vinca Safar-Landauer, was a pediatrician.{{cite journal |last1=Acierno |first1=Louis J. |last2=Worrell |first2=L. Timothy |title=Peter Safar: Father of modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation |journal=Clinical Cardiology |date=29 January 2007 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=52–54 |doi=10.1002/clc.20042 |pmid=17262769 |pmc=6653261 }}{{Cite web|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20020331safarside0331fnp8.asp|title = Peter Safar: Surviving the Nazis and starting over}} Both were fired from their jobs under the Nuremberg Laws after the Anschluss, and Safar was not allowed to register for university.{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Careers_in_Anesthesiology/UbMhAQAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=Careers in Anesthesiology: Autobiographical Memoirs |date=1997 |publisher=Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology |isbn=978-1-889595-06-1 |pages=23 |language=en}} However, Safar ultimately escaped the Holocaust and graduated from the University of Vienna in 1948. He married Eva Kyzivat, of Czech descent, and moved from Vienna to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1949 for surgical training at Yale University. He completed training in anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1952.

Career

In 1952 Safar worked in Lima, Peru, and founded the first academic anesthesiology department in the country. In 1954, he became chief of the department of anesthesiology at Baltimore City Hospital.

=Development of CPR techniques=

Together with James Elam, he rediscovered the initial steps in CPR. These included the head tilt and chin lift maneuver to open the airway of an unconscious victim, as well as the mouth-to-mouth breathing. He influenced Norwegian doll maker Asmund Laerdal of Laerdal company to design and manufacture mannequins for CPR training called Resusci Anne. Safar, who began to work on CPR in 1956 at Baltimore City Hospital, demonstrated in a series of experiments on paralyzed human volunteers that rescuer exhaled-air mouth-to-mouth breathing could maintain satisfactory oxygen levels in the non-spontaneously breathing victim,{{cite journal |last1=Safar |first1=Peter |journal=JAMA |date=20 May 1961 |title=Ventilation and circulation with closed-chest cardiac massage in man |volume=176 |issue=7 |pages=574–576 |doi=10.1001/jama.1961.03040200010003 |pmid=13745343 }} and showed that even laypeople could effectively perform mouth-to-mouth breathing to save lives. He combined the A (Airway) and B (Breathing) components of CPR with the C (chest compressions). He wrote the book ABC of Resuscitation in 1957, which established the basis for mass training of CPR.{{cite journal|last1=Petechuk|first1=David|title=Time of death: Postponed|journal=PittMed (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Magazine)|date= October 1999|volume=1|issue=1|page=22}} This A-B-C system for CPR training of the public was later adopted by the American Heart Association, which promulgated standards for CPR in 1973.{{cite news |first=Anita |last=Srikameswaran |date=21 March 2002 |title=Dr. Peter Safar: A life devoted to cheating death |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20020331safar0331fnp2.asp |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=14 September 2009}}

=Other achievements and contributions=

Safar's other achievements included the establishment of the United States' first intensive-care unit in 1958, at Baltimore City Hospital. In 1961, he went to the University of Pittsburgh, where he established its notable academic anesthesiology department and the world's first intensive-care medicine training program. In 1966, he was deeply moved by the death of his daughter, Elizabeth, at the age of 12 from an acute asthmatic crisis. He initiated the Freedom House Enterprise Ambulance Service, one of the first prehospital emergency medical services in the United States in 1967 and together with Dr. Nancy Caroline, developed standards for emergency medical technician (EMT) education and training, as well as standards for mobile intensive-care ambulance design and equipment.{{cite journal|url=https://www.pittmed.health.pitt.edu/Feb_2004/PittMed.pdf|last1=Staresinic|first1=Chuck|title=Send Freedom House!|journal=PittMed|date=February 2004|volume=6|issue=1|pages=32–34}}{{cite web |last1=Waxman |first1=Olivia B. |title=The Little-Known History of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics |url=https://time.com/6215072/first-paramedics-black-men-history/ |website=time.com |publisher=Time, USA |access-date=5 March 2025}} Freedom House Ambulance service employed young African Americans who were deemed "unemployable".{{Cite web|url=http://www.emsworld.com/article/12127175/paramedics-of-freedom-house-empowerment-through-paramedicine|title=Paramedics of Freedom House: Empowerment Through Paramedicine|last=Karns|first=Jameson|date=15 October 2015|website=EMS World}} Several members of Freedom House went on to establish successful careers in EMS and public safety.

In 1970, Safar was among a group of 29 individuals meeting in Los Angeles, California who co-founded the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Safar served in 1971 as the Society's second president, following the founding president Dr. Max Harry Weil.

In 1976, Safar co-founded the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM), which is dedicated to saving lives in major disasters. He stepped down from the chairmanship of anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh and founded the International Resuscitation Research Center in 1979, dedicated to cardiopulmonary cerebral resuscitation (CPCR).

With Nicholas Bircher he published a textbook on CPCR that became the international standard. In March 1989, he assembled an interdisciplinary team of researchers – composed of the following individuals: Miroslav Klain, M.D. (Anesthesiologist), Edmund Ricci, Ph. D. (Evaluation research), Ernesto A. Pretto, Jr., M.D. (Anesthesiologist), Joel Abrams, Ph.D. (Engineering), and Louise Comfort, Ph. D. (Social Science) – which became known as the University of Pittsburgh Disaster Reanimatology Study Group (DRSG). This research team in partnership with a team of Russian and Armenian physicians conducted the first international interdisciplinary disaster evaluation research field survey study of the earthquake in Armenia.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} The Armenia study led to a series of post-disaster field studies by the DRSG in Costa Rica (1991), Turkey (1993), and Japan (1994). These studies helped to establish the "Golden 24 Hours" of emergency response in disasters and inspired Norwegian anesthesiologist and humanitarian Dr. Knut Ole Sundnes to establish in 1995 the Task Force of Quality Control of Disaster Management (TFQCDM), under the auspices of the Nordic Society of Disaster Medicine and WADEM.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

Safar practiced and taught clinical anesthesiology at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh until the age of 65, but he continued his research activities until his death. His lifelong goal was to "save the hearts and brains of those too young to die" and to improve the life-saving potential in disasters, a field he called "Disaster Reanimatology."{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} In 1990, he appointed Ernesto Pretto, M.D., as leader of the Disaster program.

Honors and legacy

In 1999, Safar was awarded the Cross of Honor, Austria's highest civilian honor, for his services in the field of medicine. He was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. On 13 September 2014, the Alliance of Germanic Societies of Pittsburgh honored him, as well.{{cite web |url=http://www.pghmannerchor.com/2014/10/the-alliance-of-germanic-societies-of-pittsburgh-parade-and-recognition-luncheon-2014/ |title=The Alliance of Germanic Societies of Pittsburgh Parade and Recognition Luncheon (2014) | Teutonia Männerchor in Pittsburgh (Deutschtown), PA |access-date=28 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110132456/http://www.pghmannerchor.com/2014/10/the-alliance-of-germanic-societies-of-pittsburgh-parade-and-recognition-luncheon-2014/ |archive-date=10 November 2014 }}"Dr. Peter Safar (1924–2003) was the very special honoree for his year. He was introduced by Robert Tate, President of the Austrian Society of Pittsburgh who lauded this Viennese born and educated Doctor for his life’s achievements in medicine. Dr. Safar has been honored world-wide for improvements in medical practice and advances in medical science. His achievements were wide ranging from the development of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and as a founder of the nation’s first medical/surgical intensive care unit. Dr. Safar was chairman of the Anesthesiology Department, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. In 1999, he was awarded the 'Cross of Honor', Austria’s highest civilian honor for his services in the field of medicine."

The University of Pittsburgh renamed the International Resuscitation Research Center after him in 1994 to honor his "innumerable contributions to the field of resuscitation medicine".{{cite web|title=About Us|url=https://www.safar.pitt.edu/about/|publisher=Safar Center for Resuscitation Research}} Additionally, the chair of anesthesiology (now the Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine) was named after him and his wife. Various medical organizations dedicated to the area of critical care medicine, such as the European Resuscitation Council and Society of Critical Care Medicine, have named lectures and awards after him.{{cite web|title=Career and Leadership: Awards|url=https://sccm.org/member-center/professional-development/awards|publisher=Society of Critical Care Medicine}}{{cite web|title=ERC Congress 2024|url=https://www.resuscitation.eu/assets/congress/ERC-congress-2024-Scientific-Programme_2.pdf|publisher=European Resuscitation Council}}

Death

Safar died on 3 August 2003 at his homeSrikameswaran, Anita (5 August 2003), [http://old.post-gazette.com/obituaries/20030805safar0805p1.asp "Obituary: Dr. Peter Safar / Renowned Pitt physician called 'father of CPR'"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, from cancer.{{cite press release |title=Dear Friends and Colleagues |publisher=Safar Center for Resuscitation Research |date=4 August 2003 |url=http://www.safar.pitt.edu/content/news/2003/Safar.htm |access-date=14 September 2009 |archive-date=8 October 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031008134244/http://www.safar.pitt.edu/content/news/2003/Safar.htm |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |author1=JOSÉ RAMÍREZ |title=Peter Safar, 'The Father Of C.P.R.,' Is Dead at 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/06/us/peter-safar-the-father-of-cpr-is-dead-at-79.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=4 July 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=6 August 2003 |page=B 7}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{cite journal | pmid = 1870252 | volume=266 | issue=9 | title=National medical response to mass disasters in the United States. Are we prepared? | year=1991 | journal=JAMA | pages=1259–62 | last1 = Pretto | first1 = E. A. | author2 = P. Safar | doi=10.1001/jama.1991.03470090093038}}

Further reading

  • {{cite journal |pmid=17262769 |doi=10.1002/clc.20042 |date=January 2007 |last1=Acierno |first1=L. J. |author2=L. T. Worrell |title=Peter Safar: father of modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=52–4 |issn=0160-9289 |journal=Clinical Cardiology |pmc=6653261 }}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=15898486 |date=March 2005 |last1=Gunn |first1=SW |title=The humanitarian imperative in disaster management--a memorial tribute to Professor Peter Safar |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=89–92 |issn=1049-023X |journal=Prehospital and Disaster Medicine |doi=10.1017/s1049023x00002247|doi-access=free }}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=15043226 |doi=10.1097/01.CCM.0000110742.81376.FA |date=February 2004 |last1=Weil |first1=Max Harry |author2= William C. Shoemaker |title=Pioneering contributions of Peter Safar to intensive care and the founding of the Society of Critical Care Medicine |volume=32 |issue=2 Suppl |pages=S8–10 |issn=0090-3493 |journal=Critical Care Medicine|url=http://www.reanimatology.com/rmt/article/view/1356 }}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=15008320 |date=February 2004 |last1=Behringer |first1=Wilhelm |title=Peter Safar — 'Vater der Wiederbelebung' |trans-title=Peter Safar--'father of resuscitation' |language=de |volume=116 |issue=3 |pages=102–06 |issn=0043-5325 |journal=Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift |doi=10.1007/BF03040705|s2cid=26797464 |doi-access=free }}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=14691793 |date=January 2004 |last1=Mosesso |first1=V. N. Jr |author2=P. M. Paris |title=A tribute to Peter Safar, MD: Physician, researcher, mentor, visionary, humanist |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=76–9 |issn=1090-3127 |journal=Prehospital Emergency Care |doi=10.1080/312703003824|s2cid=45875690 }}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=14676499 |date=December 2003 |last1=Martens |first1=Patrick |author2=Arsene Mullie |title=(Some of the) lessons learned from Peter Safar |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=257 |issn=0969-9546 |journal=European Journal of Emergency Medicine |doi=10.1097/00063110-200312000-00002}}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=14600663 |date=August 2003 |last1=Crippen |first1=D. |title=A eulogy: personal reflections on Dr. Peter Safar |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=27 |journal=MedGenMed}}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=14583698 |date=October 2003 |last1=Stoy |first1=W |author2=J. T. Grandey |title=Teacher, clinician ... Friend. Tributes to Peter Safar |volume=28 |issue=10 |pages=20–04 |issn=0197-2510 |journal=JEMS }}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=12972892 |date=September 2003 |last1=Arnold |first1=Jeffrey L. |author2=Francesco Della Corte|title=International emergency medicine: recent trends and future challenges |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=180–88 |issn=0969-9546 |journal=European Journal of Emergency Medicine |doi=10.1097/00063110-200309000-00005|s2cid=24657128 }}
  • {{cite journal |doi=10.1136/bmj.327.7415.624 |pmc=194106 |title=Peter Josef Safar |year=2003 |last1=Lenzer |first1=Jeanne |journal=BMJ |volume=327 |pages=624 |issue=7415 }}
  • {{cite journal |pmid=12759308 |doi=10.1001/jama.289.19.2485 |url=http://www.safar.pitt.edu/content/news/2003/images/Mitka-JAMA%202003.pdf |date=May 2003 |last1=Mitka |first1=Mike |title=Peter J. Safar, MD: 'father of CPR,' innovator, teacher, humanist |volume=289 |issue=19 |pages=2485–6 |issn=0098-7484 |journal=JAMA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627141934/http://www.safar.pitt.edu/content/news/2003/images/Mitka-JAMA%202003.pdf |archive-date=27 June 2008 }}