The Anaesthesia Heritage Centre

#OTD in 1814 Samuel Colt was born.
An early advocate of nitrous-oxide anaesthesia, under the name of ‘Professor Coult of London and New York’, he toured the USA with a laughing gas show.
DID YOU KNOW: Colt used the profits from these shows to develop the famous Colt .45 revolver

Congratulations France on winning the World Cup yesterday. #DYK On 15th December 1846 ether anaesthesia was first administered in Paris. This bottle from our collection dates to the 1950s and would have contained ether.

Unfortunately, the Anaesthesia Heritage Centre will be closed on Friday 13th July. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Unfortunately, due to planned demonstrations in the area, the Anaesthesia Heritage Centre will be closed on Friday 13th July. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

#OTD in 1766, Baron Dominique Jean Larrey was born.
Larrey was a surgeon in Napoleon’s army and is considered to be one of the fathers of military medicine. He introduced mobile ‘flying ambulances’ that could reach the wounded quickly and treat them on the spot; the concept of triage; mobile field hospitals; and the first description of trench foot.
Larrey also used ice to reduce the pain of battlefield amputations.

John Snow (1813-1858) was one of the first doctors to calculate dosages for anaesthesia. He designed an ether inhaler that gave a fixed and safe concentration.
Since 1946, the John Snow medal has been awarded to Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland officers for 'exceptional service' and to 'eminent anaesthetists of great distinction'.

#OTD in 1864, the Chloroform Committee of Royal Medicine and Chirurgical Society (now the Royal Society of Medicine) published its first report. This was the first investigation into the safety of ether and chloroform, and endorsed the use of chloroform, even though ether was safer for patients.

Sir Frederic Hewitt was born on this day in 1857.
At the end of the 19th century, anaesthetics were often administered by those with little training, and fatalities were frequent. Hewitt believed that many of these deaths were avoidable and worked to improve the training in anaesthetics and their administration. He became the leading physician anaesthetist in the UK.
His textbook, 'Anaesthetics and /their Administration', ran to five editions and was published for twenty five years.

The Pask Award is given by @AAGBI for gallantry in clinical duties. It's named after Edgar Pask for his work in the Second World War

"Only about 16% of trainees had any training whatsoever in intensive care..."
Listen to the full interview with Dr Sheila Willats here: http://bit.ly/2eMGxEG

Look at our shiny new museum lighting! What do you think? We've taken on board our visitor feedback and invested in some fibre optic lighting which is kind to our collection whilst helping you to see it better. #illuminated

On the 24 June 1902, Sir Frederic Hewitt administered anaesthetic to Edward VII at Buckingham Palace.
The King had been diagnosed with appendicitis just twelve days before his coronation, and a room at Buckingham Palace was converted into an operating theatre, with equipment laid out on a billiard table. Hewitt used a mixture of two parts chloroform with three parts ether.
The King recovered and was crowned six weeks later.
... Frederic Hewitt was made an MVO in 1902, and was knighted in 1911 by George V for his services to medicine.
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#OTD in 1783, Friedrich Sertürner, the discoverer of morphine, was born.
Sertürner isolated morphine from opium whilst working as an apprentice pharmacist in 1805, and named it after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.
This was the first time that anyone had managed to isolate an active ingredient from a plant.

Good news! Our lighting works will be shorter than expected. The museum will only be closed on Thurs 21st and Fri 22nd June. Please visit our free museum 10am-4pm Tues and Weds this week.

Great little article courtesy of the @hippocraticpost http://bit.ly/2JZJsaw, Our Brave Faces Exhibition will be on until the end of Oct 2018. Visit our free museum Mon-Fri 10am-4pm to see it.

Unfortunately, the Anaesthesia Heritage Centre will be this week; Mon 18th to Fri 22nd June whilst we are refurbishing the lighting in our museum cases. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Unfortunately, the Anaesthesia Heritage Centre will be closed this week; Mon 18th to Fri 22nd June whilst we are refurbishing the lighting in our museum cases. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

On the 15th of June 1665, Jean-Baptiste Denys gave the first documented blood transfusion.
His patient was a fifteen year old boy with a fever, who had been bled by leeches twenty times. Denys used lamb’s blood, believing that it was a ‘cool’ blood that would calm the fever, and the boy survived.
DID YOU KNOW: Denys’ fourth patient died after receiving a transfusion of cow’s blood. Denys was accused by the patient’s wife of murder, and was charged. He was acquitted, and it was later proved that he had been poisoned by arsenic, possibly by his wife.

Arthur E Guedel was born #otd in 1883.
Though best known for the Guedel airway, he also taught anaesthetics to hospital staff and developed his guide to the signs and stages of ether anaesthesia during the First World War.
During his time working for the American Expeditionary Forces hospitals in France, Guedel became known as the 'motorcycle anaesthetist' as he travelled between the hospitals.