William Kouwenhoven

William Kouwenhoven, Alpha Xi (St. John’s), was initiated into Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity on February 25, 1929. Originally a member of Psi Sigma Fraternity, a local fraternity founded at his college, he was initiated into Pi Kappa Phi as an alumnus on February 25, 1929, after Psi Sigma Fraternity was absorbed by Pi Kappa Phi. In 1914, he was hired as a professor at John Hopkins University’s School of Engineering. While teaching there, he focused his research on the effects of electricity on the human body and cardiac arrest. Because he was fascinated with electricity, Kouwenhoven joined doctors and medical professionals in a study at Johns Hopkins focused on the effects of electricity on the human body. In 1933, the team was able to revive a dog’s heart through open-heart defibrillation. This success pointed to the possibility that one day, they could revive a human heart similarly.

By 1947, the open-chest defibrillator developed by the team had been successfully used to revive a young boy. Still, the open-chest design was limited in its effectiveness due to the time that passed between the occurrence of a cardiac event and surgeons being able to open the chest to administer defibrillation. Consequently, in 1950, Kouwenhoven was tasked by the Edison Electric Institute with creating a closed-chest defibrillator. By 1955, his efforts were successful as the first successful closed-chest resuscitation was performed on a human. Around this time, Kouwenhoven retired as dean but joined the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins as an emeritus professor, working with a renowned heart surgeon to develop a portable version of his closed-chest defibrillator.

While that was the goal, their research first yielded a great discovery; it led them to discover cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR. After much experimenting, in 1957, the team found that chest compression could keep blood circulating, and this was combined with the proven practice of mouth-to-mouth respiration. Without CPR, doctors needed to administer defibrillation to a patient within 10 minutes for them to have a chance at survival. With CPR administered, this time was extended to 30 minutes, providing a much greater chance for patients to make it to the hospital to receive care.

In the same year they developed CPR, Kouwenhoven and his team eventually achieved their goal of creating a portable closed-chest defibrillator. The initial portable device was 270 pounds but could at least be rolled around the hospital on a cart. By 1958, the team had revived 14 individuals using the device. In 1960, Kouwenhoven and other team members went on a national tour, introducing their device to medical professionals across the United States. By 1961, the team had successfully condensed their device into 45 pounds, small enough to be carried and transported from place to place.

Highlights

• Known as “The Father of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation” and the “Grandfather of Biomedical Engineering”
• Inventor of the closed-chest defibrillator and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Recipient of the first honorary doctorate ever given by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Hektoen Gold Medal – American Medical Association
• Edison Medal – American Institute of Electrical Engineers
• Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research
• In 1981, the Johns Hopkins School of Engineering established the William B. Kouwenhoven Professorship in Electrical Engineering in his memory