just in case he doesn't pull through.

From “The Schäfer Method of Artificial Respiration” in The British Medical Journal (August 17, 1940), p. 234: “The principle of the Schäfer operation was described by Mr. George Rew, the [Royal Life Saving] society’s official lecturer as the transference of the weight of the trunk of the operator from his heels to his straight arms, his hands being on the small of the patient’s back with the patient in the prone position. No other muscular effort was needed. The movements necessary for the complete cycle of expiration and inspiration should occupy five seconds, two seconds being taken up by pressure (for expiration), in which the operator swung slowly forward so that the weight of his body was conveyed to his hands, and three seconds by relaxation (for inspiration), in which the operator swung slowly backward to his first position so that the weight was removed from the hands, which, however, remained in place.”

This technique of artificial respiration, known as “out goes the old air, in comes the good air,” was officially replaced in the US in the early fifties by the Holger Neilsen method which was found to exchange twice as much air in the patient’s lungs with each application of pressure. (The operator applies pressure to the flat of the back, releases it, then lifts the patient’s elbows and releases them.)