The diagnostic and treatment strategies for respiratory failure and its associated conditions have come a long way. Since the discovery of the stethoscope by René Laennec in 1816, to the work of Fenn and his team in 1946 on pulmonary gas exchange, the use of cuffed endotracheal tubes by Ibsen in 1954 to administer positive pressure ventilation to patients in respiratory failure who were admitted to the intensive care units, that became common in the United States in 1960.

• In 1816 René Laennec invented the stethoscope.^[1]
• In 1821 René Laennec first described the gross pathology of idiopathic anasarca of the lungs; pulmonary edema without heart failure.
• In 1896 W.C. Roentgen had described X-rays.^[2]
• The limitation was that early chest X-rays required an exposure time of more than 20 minutes, hence they were not used until 1920.
• In 1946 Fenn and his team published their work on pulmonary gas exchange, relating PO2, PCO2, respiratory exchange ratio, arterial oxygen saturation, alveolar ventilation and altitude.^[3]
• In 1954 Clark first developed an electrode which was used for the measurement of PO2, showing the oxygen level in the blood.^[4]
• In 1960 the use of intensive care units became common in the United States.^[5]
• In 1967 Ashbaugh and his team identified acute respiratory distress syndrome.^[6]

• In 1936 Cortisone was first extracted.^[7]
• In 1950 Cortisone was used to treat asthma.
• In 1954 Ibsen used cuffed endotracheal tubes to administer positive pressure ventilation to patients in respiratory failure admitted to the ICU.^[8]
• In 1960 Moss and his coworkers discovered the benefits of using chest compressions to achieve artificial circulation.^[9]