Kiwi Unknown Chosen Among 10 Best Female Inventors In The World
U.K born Kiwi inventor Norma McCulloch has been recognised as one of the top ten female inventors in the world at the
Global Women’s Innovator and Inventor Award recently held in Britain. She was also awarded the prestigious British
Female Inventor of the Year Award.
Almost every New Zealander would have used her first invention, a vacuum pump used to take air out of freezer bags, but
few would have heard her name.
That is slowly changing as Mrs McCulloch’s latest invention, a hand held resuscitator, the ‘Breath of Life’®, is
continuing to impress overseas buyers and investors and has won her 12 International Awards.
The ‘Breath of Life’® Resuscitator, is an easy to use manual resuscitator designed as a safe alternative to
mouth-to-mouth. Its operation is so intuitive that manual resuscitation is no longer the domain of only a small number
of highly trained professionals, it is now within the grasp of almost any individual first on the scene of an accident.
Mrs McCulloch says it’s something that any person can use to help save lives without risk to their own.
“I came up with the idea after my son Richard happened upon an accident and gave CPR to a bloodied roadside victim. At
the time people were becoming aware of the risk of transmission of aids through contact with blood and open wounds. I
wanted to find an alternative to mouth to mouth that would help someone in a similar situation maintain a patients
viability without risk to their own health,” she said.
The ‘Breath of Life’® Resuscitator has also been adapted for use on animals. This has proved, and continues to prove, a
tremendous success with breeders of expensive livestock, veterinarians and farmers worldwide.
Mrs McCulloch says the recognition she is receiving from academics, medical professionals and the marketplace is
satisfying after years of struggle and disappointment along the way.
“At one point my family had to sell everything we owned to cover the cost of development and the world-wide patents. The
1990’s was a very crippling environment for small businesses in New Zealand. At times I did question whether it was
worth it. I’m glad that I’ve persisted,” she said.
Mrs McCulloch is about to sell the intellectual property for her resuscitator to a leading European respiratory company
who will be able to bring the invention to the person first on the scene of an accident, around the world.