How a Parisian Death Mask Became the Face of CPR Dolls Everywhere

Taken a CPR training course? You likely met Resusci Anne, the CPR doll with a haunting history.

By Marisa Sloan
Jun 29, 2023 8:00 PM
CPR doll
(Credit: John Gomez/Shutterstock)

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If you’ve heard Michael Jackson’s familiar refrain “Annie, are you OK?,” you know one of the first steps of performing CPR: assessing whether the other person is responsive. And that’s not a coincidence. 

It’s said that this particular lyric was directly inspired by Resusci Anne — the name given to the anatomical manikin found in first aid classes around the world. And she’s far more than just a pretty face.

Receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, can double or triple the odds of survival during cardiac arrest; thanks largely to the creators of Resusci Anne, 65 percent of people in the U.S. say they’ve received CPR training and thousands of lives are saved each year.

But for a manikin whose ultimate purpose is to help keep people alive, Resusci Anne’s origin story is a macabre one. It begins at a Paris mortuary in the late 19th century.

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