Today, an AED is a common sight, found in public spaces from airports to sports clubs. But did you know the journey to create this smart, life-saving device began almost 250 years ago with curious experiments on chickens?
This is the remarkable story of the innovators and breakthroughs that led to the modern Automated External Defibrillator. Let us take you through the history of the AED.
The 18th & 19th Centuries: Accidental Discoveries
The story begins long before we understood the condition we now call ventricular fibrillation (VF). In 1775, Danish physician Peter Christian Abildgaard administered electric shocks to chickens. The first shock stopped the animal’s heart, but a second shock miraculously brought it back to life. He didn’t know why.
It took nearly 75 years for the next piece of the puzzle. In 1849, Carl Ludwig demonstrated that electrical stimuli could alter an animal’s heart rhythm, a first step toward control. Later, in 1887, Professor John Alexander McWilliam finally gave a name to the heart’s chaotic state: “ventricular fibrillation,” identifying it as fatal without treatment. This paved the way for physiologists in 1899 to prove that a strong electric shock could reverse VF, establishing the core principle of defibrillation.
The 1950s: Taking Defibrillation Beyond the Operating Theatre
The first successful defibrillation on a human was performed by American heart surgeon Claude Schaefer Beck in 1947. After a 45-minute heart massage failed to revive a 14-year-old boy during surgery, Beck used a defibrillator with electrodes placed directly on the heart. It worked, and the boy’s heartbeat was restored. However, this method was confined to the operating theatre.
A UK Milestone: The First Portable Defibrillator
A pivotal moment occurred in 1966 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Cardiologist Professor James Francis Pantridge, motivated by the need to treat VF outside the hospital, installed the first portable defibrillator in an ambulance. While his initial device was cumbersome—weighing 70 kg and powered by a car battery—it was a revolutionary first step. By the early 1970s, engineer John Anderson had dramatically improved the design, creating a device that weighed only three kilograms.
The 1970s-80s: The Birth of the ‘Smart’ Defibrillator
These portable devices still required a medical professional to interpret the heart rhythm and decide whether to shock. The true ancestor of the modern AED was the “Heart Aid” system, developed in the 1970s in the U.S. It could analyse the heart rhythm and provide spoken instructions, but it was complex and commercially unsuccessful—partly because one electrode had to be inserted through the mouth.
The breakthrough came in 1980, when John Anderson developed a reliable algorithm that could accurately detect VF using adhesive electrodes placed on the chest. This led to an AED that ambulance personnel began using in 1982.
The 1990s to Today: An AED for Everyone
The first commercial AEDs appeared in the early 1990s, initially deployed mainly by medical professionals. The devices were still complex, and there was little public awareness about whether a layperson was legally allowed to deploy one.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, this changed dramatically. AEDs became smaller, smarter, and far more user-friendly, with clear instructions and visual cues. Public awareness campaigns and official government endorsements, like the advice issued by the UK’s health authorities, clarified that AEDs could be safely deployed by anyone. This led to their widespread placement in public areas, with one of the first public-access rescues taking place at a US airport in 2001.
From a strange experiment on birds to a compact device that anyone can use, the journey of the AED has been a long one. Thanks to centuries of innovation, we can now save the life of a friend, colleague, or stranger with the simple push of a button.
Do you want to learn more about today’s defibrillators and what to look for when buying or renting one? Read our article: How to Choose the Right AED? These are Key Features to Compare
