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Page date: Published 8 Mar 2023; updated 25 Mar 2026. 4 min read.

The article traces the development of the Resusci Anne CPR training manikin by Norwegian entrepreneur Åsmund Lærdal. It says Lærdal first built a toy business using flexible PVC and later worked with anaesthesiologist Bjørn Lind and physician Peter Safar’s resuscitation method to develop a lifelike manikin for teaching CPR to the public. The article attributes the face used for Resusci Anne to the death mask of an unidentified woman recovered from the Seine in the 19th century.

Lærdal’s company launched the Anne doll in the late 1950s and later shifted from toys to resuscitation training, changing its name to Laerdal Medical. The article also notes the Tomte car toy, of which it says more than 100 million were produced. It describes the company as having 1,750 employees in 27 countries at publication time, with products and services spanning resuscitation, simulation, training and patient safety.

The article quotes Jon Åsmund Lærdal describing company goals to help save 500,000 patients annually and support partners in saving one million lives a year by 2030. These are stated goals. It also describes the Laerdal Foundation’s support for acute-medicine research, the Laerdal Million Lives Fund and Laerdal Global Health’s maternal and child health work. A cited Tanzania training program is said to have reduced mortality by 47%; the article does not provide study design details. Related links: Health and life science; Resusci Anne; Laerdal Foundation; Laerdal Global Health.