Ambu's history

Saving lives

Ambu A/S was founded in 1937 in Denmark by engineer Dr. Holger Hesse, Ph.D. who had the ambition of building a business dedicated to product developments which would contribute to the saving of human lives.

He began by setting up Testa-Laboratorium, a company specialising in the production of a highly original haemoglobinometer to measure blood haemoglobin levels by means of a colour scale.

A partnership in 1953 between Dr. Hesse and Prof. Henning Ruben combined the former's engineering skills and the latter's wide knowledge of anaesthesia. Their collaboration led to the development of a unique range of products for use at the accident site. 
 

The Ambu Bag

The first of these - a self-inflating resuscitator marketed under the name 'Ambu' - was launched in 1956. The resuscitator was considered to be a milestone in emergency medical technique and quickly became established internationally. The name Ambu did as well, and was subsequently chosen as the new company name.

Today, Ambu resuscitators are in use all over the world - in hospitals, by ambulance services - in fact, in every emergency medical environment.

Ambu has also been active in pioneering the concept of 'early resuscitation through rescuers'. In any emergency situation, the patient must be provided with prompt and highly skilled care between the incident site and hospital emergency department. With that in mind, Ambu initiated a new training concept which was implemented using the first training manikins between 1957 and 1959.

This training concept embraced the techniques of establishment of open airway, mouth-to-mouth ventilation and cardiac chest compression. From the beginning, all Ambu manikins incorporated a unique hygienic system which safely protected trainees from the risk of cross-infection.

During the 1970s and '80s, a major corporate expansion took place at Ambu. The establishment of a worldwide distribution network and sales companies consolidated Ambu's position as a major influence in immediate medical care and training. 
 

Medicotest

In 2001, Ambu acquired Medicotest, a leading electrode company.

The story of Medicotest is a textbook example of entrepeneurship. In 1971 Medicotest A/S was founded by engineer Jan Rasmussen with the following aim:

“To develop and produce disposable ECG electrodes providing the most reliable transmission of low voltage signals between the human body and an amplifier”.

In other words, Jan Rasmussen saw a need for an electrode which was better than the ones on the market at that time. The solution was the unique off-set design which still characterises the Ambu Blue Sensor products today.

True to the entrepeneurial spirit, his product development activities took place on his dining room table for a couple of years until he moved them to a 100m2 cellar. In this period the design and ideas were tested in many hospitals under various conditions.

The main partner during this process was the University Hospital of Copenhagen with whom this longstanding relationship still exists.