Harold Griffith
Harold Randall Griffith (July 25, 1894–1985) was a Canadian anesthesiologist and a leader in the fields of anesthesiology.
He was born in Montreal, the son of Alexander Randall Griffith, a medical doctor and homeopathic practitioner. His own medical studies at McGill University were interrupted by World War I, when he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery at Vimy Ridge.[1] He graduated from McGill University in 1922, later became the first President of the Canadian Anaesthetists' Society (now Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society),[2] and the first elected president of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA).[1]
To supplement his medical degree, he studied homeopathy at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. He joined his father in private practice, specialising in anaesthetics and on his death in 1936 succeeded him as medical director of the Montreal Homeopathic Hospital (in 1951 renamed Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Montreal), where he was noted for the precision of his clinical records. His brother James Griffith, medical doctor|was also a medical doctor, surgeon in chief at the same hospital from 1937 to 1966.[citation needed]
He introduced use of ethylene (1923) and cyclopropane (1933) into Canadian anaesthetic practice.[1] On January 23, 1942, with resident Enid Johnson, he used curare for the first time during anesthesia to produce muscle relaxation in human patients undergoing surgery.[3]
Recognition
McGill University established the Harold R Griffith Research Chair in Anesthesia in 1992.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 J Earl Wynands. "Harold Randall Griffith, MD, CM, OC - 1894-1985". Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
- ↑ http://www.cas.ca/English/CAS-Chronology
- ↑ Czarnowski, Charles; Bailey, Jason (September 2007). "Curare and a Canadian connection". Canadian Family Physician 53 (9): 1531–2. PMC 2234642.
Sources
- Ullman, Dana (2007). "Harold Randall Griffith, MD". The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. pp. 122–4. ISBN 978-1-55643-671-0.
External links
- http://www.general-anaesthesia.com/harold-griffith.html
- Sykes K (April 1993). "Harold Griffith Memorial Lecture. The Griffith legacy". Canadian Journal of Anesthesia 40 (4): 365–74. PMID 8485797.
- Griffith, Harold; Johnson, G. Enid (July 1942). "The Use of Curare in General Anesthesia". Anesthesiology 3 (4): 418–20. doi:10.1097/00000542-194207000-00006.
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