Cardiac arrest is a major concern in health care, owing to its high incidence and mortality rates. Since the development of external cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), there has been little advancement in nonpharmacologic therapies that have increased survival rates associated with cardiac arrest. Consequently, there has been much interest in the development of new techniques to improve the efficacy of CPR, particularly in the development of devices. Initially, many of the devices developed were not considered functional and failed to gain acceptance in the clinical setting. Recently, however, several devices have been developed which have progressed the administration of CPR and garnered acceptance in the clinical setting. In this article we will briefly review some of the more common mechanical devices developed to increase the safety and efficacy of CPR administration.