Miami Valley Hospital School of Nursing - Lamp Yearbook (Dayton, OH)

Page 47 text:

launched in this institution, directed by Doctor Walter M. Simpson, Doctor Fred Kislig Cdied February 7, l933j, and Doctor Paul deKruif. Doctor Paul deKruif had stimulated interest in this field following his visit abroad with Doctor Julius Wagner Jauregg, his observations having been published in his book, Men Against Death. The short-wave apparatus, called the radiotherm, was made by the General Electric Research Laboratories and sent to this institution for investigative purposes. Although an artificial fever could be induced by this means, it soon became apparent that this method was not without considerable hazard because of the tendency of the short waves to become concentrated in drops of sweat, which accumulated on the skin surfaces, producing burning of the skin. The idea was then conceived of placing the patient in an air-conditioned cabinet for the purpose of dissipating the perspiration as fast it was formed. The radiotherm combined with the air-conditioned cabinet was then utilized for the induction of artificial fever. Maintenance of the fever thus produced was accomplished by placing the patient in hot packs. In May, 1933, it was learned by accident that the body temperature could be elevated and maintained with the air-conditioned cabinet alone without the use of the high frequency currents. When the cabinet fulhlled the requirement of a safe and satisfactory method for the administration of artificial fever, eighty cabinets were built by the Frigidaire Division, General Motors Corporation, and distributed to twenty-six research centers for the purpose of widening the scope of investigation. Since this time innumerable changes in cabinet construction and details of technic have occurred with the result that it is now possible to elevate the bodyis temperature to any desired level with cabinet temperatures not exceeding 1150 Fahrenheit, in contrast to 1700 Fahrenheit temperatures of former years, by the simple expedient of increasing the moisture content I relative humidityj of the air within the cabinet. Two years ago, the Liebel -Flarsheim Company, of Cincinnati, was licensed by Frigidaire Division, General Motors Corporation, to build the cabinet, which was given the name Hypertherm, This development has continued under the direction of Edwin C, Sittler, formerly associated with the General Motors Research Corporation, who is in charge of this project at the Liebel-Flarsheim Company. This apparatus is sold at a reasonable cost only to qualified institutions approved by the American Medical Association, with the stated provision that the physicians and nurses who are engaged in the work must receive adequate preliminary training, at an approved institution. During the past two years, one or more Hypertherms have been installed in qualified hospitals each week. The increased demands for training personnel have stimulated the necessity for an organized training course which will be put into effect this next year. In addition to the cabinet research and personnel training, many other problems have been studied in the department. Extensive serologic studies have been carried out with the collaboration and cooperation of Doctor Reuben L. Kahn, University Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan. To Doctor Kahn we owe a debt of gratitude for his kind and untiring services in the development of the broader understanding of the serologic tests. Considerable investigative work has been done in the fields of bacteriology, hema- tology, and chemotherapy which have been beneficial not only to the department itself, but also of value to the general stafl' of the hospital and physicians of this community. - On January 1, 1940, the department of fever therapy research was divided into the department of research, still under the auspices of the Kettering Institute for Medical Research, and the division of fever therapy which became 3 unit gf the hospital, During this past year, the interest in this work has continued to increase until, at the present time, the present physical facilities are being 'F' 'V Q I I L utilized to their fullest capacity, The depart- Zu. mental staff, which consisted of one nurse- technician in 1931, now consists of five nurse-technicians whose complete rapport with the patient must be established if the treatment is to be successful. The success of the treatment depends upon their patience, skill, and alertness. It has often been said that a department will grow or shrink, depending upon the ingenuity and interest of the nurse-technician. The department is under the guidance of Doctor Walter M. Simpson, director, Doctor I-I. Worley Kendell, associate director, and Doctor Donald L. Rose, research associate.

Page 46 text:

V. SIAIOCKNEY M. PETERSON F. BUROKER CABINET Department of Fever Therapy I-IYSICIANS will some day recognize fever as a friend rather than an enemy of mankind. These words were spoken about 1890 by Doctor William H. Welch, a renowned pathologist of the Johns Hopkins University. This day has come to pass. In 1918 Doctor Julius Wagner jauregg, a Viennese psychiatrist, announced that artificially induced fever, following malaria inoculation, was capable of overcoming the disastrous effects of that form of syphilis of the brain, commonly called general paralysis of the insane. Other investigators learned that the injection of the organisms causing rat bite and relapsing fever produced similar results. The use of heteroproteins, vaccines, and chemical substances, if a febrile response was induced, were also capable of producing beneficial results. It became more apparent that the simple production of fever was the important if not the only factor in accomplish- ingsimilar therapeutic results with such a wide variety of feverrproducing agencies. . The question arose as to whether a way could be found to produce the fever without the accompany- ing disease. This question aroused the interest of many investigators to develop a physical method of administering therapeutic fever. Doctor Clarence A. Neyman, of Chicago, satisfactorily produced fever with long wave diathermy. At the same time, Doctor Cash King, of Memphis, Tennessee, was conducting investigations with similar methods of inducing artificial fever. Hot baths, radiant heat cabinets, and various other devices became popular for fever production. . The work in this institution began in November, 1931. 'Prior to that time, Doctor Willis R. Whitney, director of research at General Electric Laboratories, had made the observation that men working around the short wave generators developed an elevation in body temperature. Doctor Whitney had carried out considerable studies in this field, particularly in the research work associated with Admiral Byrd's polar expeditions. Under the sponsorship of Doctor Charles F. Kettering, the project was Q 44 -to

Page 48 text:

I + 46 -F