The History of CPR Manikin Little Anne

Usually one gets to know a little bit about someone before pressing their lips up against theirs. But how many of the over 300 million people who have been “mouth to mouth” with Little Anne, also known as Resusci Anne, know her background?

Some time in the late 1880s, the body of a young woman was recovered from the river Seine in Paris. She showed no signs of violence so suicide was suspected. As was the custom at the time, in order to be recognised, her body was put on display at the Paris mortuary.

But no one recognised her.

The enigmatic face of the girl intrigued the an on duty pathologist though, who decided to create a mold and make a death mask of the unknown girl. After it was completed, the mask appeared for sale outside the mouleurs’ workshop and it soon became a muse for artists. People even started comparing her enigmatic smile with that of Mona Lisa and she was given the name L’Inconnue de la Seine (The Unknown Woman of the Seine).

Years later, in 1955, Peter Safar and Asmund Laerdal, two Norwegian toy manufacturers, were approached to make a CPR training mannequin. Laerdal, who wanted a natural appearance on his model, felt that a female face would be more appropriate. He remembered a mask that his grandparents had hanging on their wall and Inconnue de la Seine became the face of Resusci Anne.

The doctors wanted Laerdal to help them create a life-size doll to train students on a new concept of mouth ventilation. Laerdal worked with soft plastic to make his dolls, and he used the same materials to produce the first manikin to be used for resuscitation training.

With the birth of Little Anne, Laerdal went from bringing joy to children to helping to save lives.