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

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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.

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The Diagnostic Laboratories and the Kettering Institute for Medical Research WALTER M. SIMPSON, M. D. HE REMARKABLE development of the Diagnostic Labora- tories of The Miami Valley Hospital during the past decade may best be described by comparing the volume of work performed in 1930 with that accomplished in 1940. During 1930 a total of 42,74-6 laboratory tests were done. In 1940 the total had grown to 78,071. This increase of 83 per cent in volume of work- is proportionately much greater than the 20 per cent increase in the number of patients admitted to the hospital during that period. The only conclusion to be drawn from these statistics is that physicians of this community have become fully aware of the great advantages of making full use of the diagnostic facilities and the skilled personnel available to them and to their patients. This fortunate situation is reflected in the more prompt arrival at an accurate diagnosis and in the earlier administration of rational therapy. Q The motto of the Diagnostic Laboratories is: The Welfare of the Patient is the First Considera- tion. This motto is painted in large letters on the walls of both the central laboratory and the interns' laboratory. The high esprit de corps of the laboratory workers is a reflection of the implica- tions of this motto. , In addition to providing the physicians of this community with the highest quality of laboratory diagnostic service, an intensive program of medical research has gone steadily forward. Thanks to the generosity and active collaboration of Doctor Charles F. Kettering, remarkable progress has been made in the investigative work in the Held of artificial fever therapy, since the Kettering Institute for Medical Research was established in 1931. Twenty-six medical research institutions in this country, in England and in Belgium are collaborating with the Kettering Institute for Medical Research in this research program. Scores of physicians and nurses from hospitals in this country and abroad have come to The Miami Valley Hospital for training in this work. Doctor Melvin Oosting, Associate Director. of the Diagnostic Laboratories, is engaged in important researches on tularemia and on trichinosis. Doctor H. Worley Kendell, Associate Director of the Ket- tering Institute for Medical Research, and Doctor Donald L. Rose, Research Associate, have collabo- rated with the Director, Doctor Walter M. Simpson, in research studies of far-reaching importance in the control of syphilis, gonococcic infections, undulant fever, rheumatic fever, Sydenham's chorea, certain diseases of the eye and certain forms of arthritis. The Director and his associates have continued the clinical, immunologic and pathologic studies on tularemia and brucellosis fundulant feverj, begun in 1927. For these studies the laboratory workers have received the Gold Medal of the American Medical Association and the Gold Medal of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. . Another important function of the Department is to conduct Clinico-Pathologic Conferences at regular intervals. Interest in these conferences has grown steadily. The large attendance provides evidence of their continued appeal to the physicians of this community as a means of keeping abreast of medical progress. 4+ 11-7 'F