An essential part of nursing education in the early 1950s was to prepare a special “tray” for different procedures. A textbook, “Tray and Trolley Setting” by Helene Dickie,¹ gave accurate instructions and drawings for the preparation of equipment and drugs for the most important procedures such as colonic lavage, mustard plaster application, and many more. On page 138 is an illustration showing the trolley for tracheotomy (see front cover). This is a well designed set up as the operator can see the equipment and has easy access to whatever he needs.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), introduced by P Safar in 1964, required only 10 fingers, the knowledge to perform mouth to mouth ventilation, and the proper way for cardiac massage. Advanced cardiac life support was the next step; equipment and drugs were supposed to be handy and portable so that they could be carried to the patient’s bed or in the ICU for rapid and easy access. …