Sayre's theories were later debunked, but not before being widely picked up in other English-speaking countries, in particular in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Gollaher says.

BBC: Circumcision, the ultimate parenting dilemma

Sayre, what job has your mother ended up doing here?

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Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency physician at the Ohio State University and a spokesman for the AHA, says the odds of survival roughly double if a bystander steps in to provide CPR.

CNN: New CPR is spelled C-A-B

According to Sayre, if the national rate of bystander assistance could be raised to 70 percent -- the same rate as the city of Seattle, where a public education campaign has run for decades -- a minimum of 20, 000 lives would be saved every year.

CNN: New CPR is spelled C-A-B