1861 Amer. Med. Times 3 Aug. 72/2 To prefer life-destroying to life-saving.

1898 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport II. 433/1 Prior to the formation of the Society, the only attempt made to teach life-saving was by means of dummies.

1931 V. Palmer Separate Lives 101 Dot and Peter were playing life-saving in the sand: Dot, lying flat on her back..and Peter restoring circulation the way he had seen the men do.

1946 Liberty 25 May 83/2 Group medicine on an incredibly broad scale was successfully practiced during the war, with spectacular records in life-saving and health restoration by the medical services of the American Army and Navy.

1954 K. Amis Let. 11 Aug. (2000) 400 Interesting item the other day: school kids demonstrating lifesaving at a baths.

1997 Independent 17 Apr. 18/3 The Pro Dogs Gold Medal Awards..are the annual canine ‘Oscars’, awarded since 1979 for outstanding achievements in life saving, devotion to duty and pet of the year.

1598 S. Brandon Tragicomoedi of Vertuous Octauia i. sig. Bii ^v Life-sauing Empresse, how thy wisdome staies, Euen swarmes of soules, from Plutoes tyranny.

1616 T. Gainsford Hist. Trebizond iii. 215 He..so wrought with them from acknowledging a life sauing benefit, that they once againe attempted a death working Catastrophe.

1618 W. Raleigh in W. Sanderson Compl. Hist. Mary & James VI (1656) ii. 463 Offences, proceeding from a life-saving natural-impulsion without ill intent.

1711 J. Marten Treat. Venereal Dis. (ed. 7) Pref. p. xl We are obliged to do from a Life saving Principle upon such urgent Occasions.

1846 Southern Q. Rev. Oct. 440 Every great discovery has a life-saving and peace-promoting influence.

1878 Jrnl. Nerv. & Mental Dis. 5 653 In toxic and even lethal doses, artificial respiration is life-saving.

1899 Louisiana Planter & Sugar Manufacturer 29 Apr. 267/3 As the crop must be short as a whole, it is to be hoped that the life-saving extra cents will continue to the end of the season.

1911 J. A. Thomson Biol. Seasons iv. 333 A survey of the Winter-sleepers seems to show that the life-saving reaction must have arisen by..natural selection.

1921 Ann. Surg. 74 254 This blood may be kept with safety and retransfused at a time when such a procedure may be life-saving.

1939 K. Dos Passos Let. 11 Jan. in G. Murphy et al. Lett. from Lost Generation (1991) 220 When already groggy with excitement we were completely knocked over by the amazing life-saving Xmas-making Xmas-money.

1967 Canad. Med. Assoc. Jrnl. 8 July 90/1 Mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration is now accepted as ‘life-saving’ in its truest sense in asphyxias and apneas of any type.

2007 Metro (Toronto) 13 Mar. 10/6 The official in charge of issuing potentially life-saving warnings about flooding rivers in British Columbia says he's never seen a Pineapple Express hit the province this late in the winter.

1776 W. Dodd Serm. before Humane Soc. 19 The large extended circle of children, family, relations friends!—what frequent cause may they have to bless the life-saving institution.

?1787 Rep. Humane Soc. 1785–6 139 The name of Church is a Tower of strength to the Humane Society, as its life-saving purposes have been amply answered by the Medical Gentleman of that name.

1877 Harper's Mag. Dec. 50/2 The life-saving car is passing from the vessel to the shore with living freight.

1903 Strand Mag. 27 June 476/2 A life-saving kite. The kite carries a guide-rope.

1915 W. E. Dommett Submarine Vessels vii. 80 (caption) Bluejacket wearing life-saving helmet.

1932 N. Palmer Talking it Over 139 The same short stretch of surf..usually marked off short to give the life-saving patrol a chance of handling the crowd.

1960 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 12 July tm71/1 Ambu... For lifesaving apparatus and instruments—namely, respirators for artificial breathing, pressure or suction pumps especially for medical purposes.

1997 Whitby Gaz. 25 Oct. 18/1 The Rookie Lifeguard award, run by the Royal Life Saving Society, covers such topics as beach and water safety, rescue and emergency procedures, some first aid, body-boarding and snorkelling.

1858 Statutes at Large U.S.A. XI. 320 Twenty-eight life-saving stations on the coast of New Jersey.

1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 30 Jan. 4/1 There should be somewhere within reach adequate life-saving stations.

1920 S. Glaspell Plays 99 Scene: a room in a house which was once a life-saving station.

1991 Boston Apr. 32 A restored lifesaving station offers sea lore of shipwrecks, lifesaving, and lighthouses.