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Strange Woods Podcast > Episode > Episode 32 – Most Kissed Face in the World

Episode

Episode 32 – Most Kissed Face in the World

Welcome back, everybody! This week’s episode features a Guess What I Heard that’s a little bit true crime, a little bit creepy/spooky, and a lot of making out. We’re talking about Resusci-Annie, the CPR doll with a bonkers backstory! Join us, ya’ll! 

 

                                             STOP! INSIDE JOKES AHEAD!  

If you haven’t gotten to listen to the episode yet, spoiler alert! This post contains lots of stuff that will make waaay more sense if you listen to the episode before or while reading. So if you haven’t already, pump the brakes and listen to the episode or just click above to play so that you can be in on all the shenanigans to follow! 

 

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/EQU8jVSH5G

Produced by Peter Woodward

Listener Story

via GIPHY

Our listener story this week comes from Anonymous Alex, a nurse with a story about a nursing home resident that…knew he was about to pass away…? Creeeeeeepyyyyyyy.

River Seine, Paris, France

L'INCONNUE DE LA SEINE

A beautiful death...

In the 1880s, a young woman’s body was pulled from the Seine River in Paris. There were no signs of violence, her body unmarred and uninjured. As such, authorities thought her death to be the result of suicide by drowning. She appeared to be about 16 years old. 

Her body was transported to the Paris mortuary and placed on public display for identification. This was a common practice at the time, and moreover, was something of a pastime for the public, often with lines forming in order to view the bodies. 

This young lady was very special. What set her apart from the typical cadaver was her face. She wore a very serene, peaceful expression and was very beautiful. The pathologist performing the autopsy, Alexandre Lacassagne,  was so taken with her that he had a model maker produce a plaster death mask of her face. 

This was also not an uncommon practice, however, what happened afterward went down in history: L’Inconnue de la Seine or “The Unknown Woman of the Seine” became a cultural phenomenon. Unfortunately, she was not and has never been identified.

An International Icon

The mask was replicated and sold by the Lorenzi model makers at a shop called L’Atelier Lorenzi. Founded in 1871 in Arcueil, France, it was a small, family-owned shop. Four generations have run this workshop, making busts, figurines, statues, and masks out of plaster. They still sell copies of the famous death mask today under the title “Noyée de la Seine” (Drowned Woman of the Seine). It remains the item for which they are best known. If you’re in the market, you can get your own: $130 for white plaster and $175 for one with a shiny glaze!

When they began producing this mask, it became a sensation! The fascination with death and the macabre was in full swing at this time in history, and this woman’s likeness became a big fixture in Parisian-Bohemian society. The mask sold en masse with households in France using it for decor in their homes, and the women of the time even modeling their looks after her! 

She was also an inspiration and muse for artists, poets, musicians, filmmakers, and writers of the time. One such documented fan was Pablo Picasso. She was mentioned in stories, songs, and was an inspiration for paintings. Often, she was referred to as the Mona Lisa of the Seine. 
Dutch painter Lucie van Dam Van Isselt "Portrait" 1914

Fast-Forward to the 1950s...

In the mid-20th century, the Unknown Woman would gain fame in a new way. Her face in the home of a relative of a toymaker would lead to more international recognition. 

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the life-saving combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions for those in cardiac and/or respiratory arrest, was developed by two doctors: Austrian-Czech Peter Safar and American James Elam. Initially, CPR began with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and was then workshopped to include chest compressions and tilting of the head back to open the airway, resembling more of what we know and use today. 
 

CPR was revolutionary in the medical world and was being implemented everywhere. However, there was a problem. Medical students were having to practice on each other in order to learn the chest compression technique, which can be very dangerous and, at a minimum, very painful.

In search of a solution, a man named Archer Gordon of the American Heart Association CPR Committee realized that a dummy could help save medical students from unnecessary pain and potential rib damage of practicing on each other. In 1958, he turned to a Norwegian toymaker named Asmund Laerdal with a plan to make a life-size training tool to assist with teaching. 

They wanted a female doll because it was thought that men would not want to perform mouth to mouth on a male. In his search for a face for his doll, Laerdal was inspired by the death mask he had seen in a relative’s home and decided to make her his model. This was, of course, the face of the Unknown Woman of the Seine!

 

Her likeness was used and the doll was named “Resusci Annie” in Europe and “CPR Annie” in the United States. She was presented at the First International Symposium on Resuscitation in Norway in 1960. The doll was made of soft plastic with a collapsible chest for practicing compressions and open lips for practicing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

She was produced and reproduced worldwide through what became Laerdal Medical. Resusci Annie continued to be used for decades, advancing and evolving with time and research. Later models included a simulated carotid pulse, pupils that could dilate and constrict, and a recording system for showing the trainee’s performance on a paper tape!

An estimated 500 million people worldwide have been trained in CPR, most of them with the help of CPR Annie! Approximately 2.5 million lives have been saved with CPR.
 
Here’s an interesting thingy: apparently the line in “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson was inspired by the doll during his own CPR training! Whaaaaaa???

CPR STEPS

Not a substitute for a class...

FACT: Properly performed CPR can double or triple the odds of survival during a cardiac arrest!

So here are the basic steps of CPR, just as a bit of a reference.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT, repeat NOT a substitute for an actual CPR course. 

We here at The Strange Woods Podcast are not certified to teach CPR. Please please PLEASE take a course. They’re super cheap and CPR saves lives!!!!

 

-Check scene for safety.
-Stimulate and speak to patient to see if you get a response.
-If unresponsive, if you are by yourself activate emergency response team and get an AED if available. If someone is with you, designate someone to do that for you. 
-Place patient supine on a hard flat surface.
-Check for pulse on carotid artery by placing two to three fingers lateral to the trachea for at least 5 but no more than 10 seconds while watching chest for rise and listening for breathing.

If the patient has a pulse but is not breathing or just gasping:
-Give 10 breaths per min (1 breath every 6 seconds) making sure to lift the chin and tilt the head back to open the airway before you begin. As you give the breath, make sure the chest is rising with each one.
-Recheck pulse every 2 minutes. 

If there is no pulse:
 -Begin with chest compressions at a rate of 100-120 compressions per minute, compressing 1/3 the depth of patient’s chest or 2 inches. 
-Push hard and fast, allowing full chest recoil between compressions.
-Give 30 compressions to 2 breaths, recheck pulse every 5 cycles (about every 2min). Be sure to switch out compressors at that time to avoid fatigue which can lead to ineffective compressions. 

-If an AED is available, utilize it as soon as possible. During the rescue breathing when chest compressions are paused, place the AED pads on the chest and power on. Follow the prompts given by the machine. It will advise shocks if appropriate and tell when to start and stop compressions. 
-Continue CPR until help arrives. 

WHAT ELSE DID WE DISCUSS?

How to get CPR Certified!

https://www.nationalcprfoundation.com/#

 I mean…it’s free…DO IT.

Thanks again for tuning in! We hope you enjoyed this episode! Please give us feedback on what you want to know about, discuss, hear, see, feel, express, repress…whoa that got away from me. Okay…

Seriously, thank you all for listening. 

Until next time, beware of the tremendous gassiness of pit bulls, and don’t forget to Stay Strange! 😉

LATER, STRANGERS!

via GIPHY

Some articles and sources:

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