Study of artificial respiration on anesthetized men

In an earlier paper¹ the authors reported the results of a study of the methods of artificial respiration when conscious subjects were used. In that study three methods of artificial respiration were investigated: namely, the Schafer prone-pressure method, the modified prone-pressure method, in which the hands were rolled or snapped off the subject´s back, and the pole-top method.² A total of 15 men was tested, and the volume of air moved by the three methods of artificial respiration was measured. All of these men were conscious, and the results indicated that all the methods were adequate, with the pole-top method in the lead. Although all of the subjects were intelligent and presumably capable of completely relaxed passivity, such results are always open to the criticism that the subject may have co-operated, perhaps unintentionally.