Laerdal history

Since 1949, Laerdal’s headquarters have been located in Stavanger, Norway.

In 1960, Doctor Bjorn Lind and Doctor Peter Safar approached Asmund S. Laerdal, a children’s book publisher and toy maker in Norway, with a unique proposal.

In 1967 the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists published the first comprehensive description of Basic and Advanced Life Support.

In 1992 the then recently founded European Resuscitation Council (ERC) began publishing guidelines for adult, child and infant resuscitation.

Some years before, in 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) invited Laerdal to collaborate on developing a much-simplified and culturally-adapted course in newborn resuscitation to meet the needs in low-resource settings.

When presented in 2008, the project elicited much enthusiasm.

Since 2010, Laerdal Global Health has worked in close collaboration with partners to develop high impact, low cost solutions aimed at helping save lives.

Although the formal partnership ended in 2017, its educational programs are reaching more than 100,000 new birth attendants every year by being embedded in national programs and through initiatives such as 50,000 Happy Birthdays.

B-Line Medical was Acquired by Laerdal Medical in the Summer of 2019.

Through 2020, 50% of the annual appropriations is earmarked for research projects related to Saving Lives at Birth.