The dawn of the twentieth century was a dynamic time for anesthesia machine development, and Jay A. Heidbrink’s anesthetizing equipment was among the most successful on either side of the Atlantic. With an alphabet of innovation from the Anesthetizer Model A (not shown) in 1912 to the Model T (left) in the late 1930s, Dr. Heidbrink refined precise flowmeters and pressure-reducing valves for compressed gas cylinders. As a testament to the Heidbrink Model T’s timeless construction, veterinary medical teams repurposed it for field research well into the twilight of the twentieth century. Rather than transport massive marine mammals such as sea lions to the continental United States, veterinary field researchers like Robert B. Heath, D.V.M., M.Sc., opted to modify existing human anesthesia machines with custom circuits and tripods (upper right) to withstand his ponderous patients and the unforgiving Alaskan shoreline (lower right). Were he alive today, would Dr. Heidbrink have considered renaming Dr. Heath’s machine “Model Z” for “Zoological”? (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
The dawn of the twentieth century was a dynamic time for anesthesia machine development, and Jay A. Heidbrink’s anesthetizing equipment was among the most successful on either side of the Atlantic. With an alphabet of innovation from the Anesthetizer Model A (not shown) in 1912 to the Model T (left) in the late 1930s, Dr. Heidbrink refined precise flowmeters and pressure-reducing valves for compressed gas cylinders. As a testament to the Heidbrink Model T’s timeless construction, veterinary medical teams repurposed it for field research well into the twilight of the twentieth century. Rather than transport massive marine mammals such as sea lions to the continental United States, veterinary field researchers like Robert B. Heath, D.V.M., M.Sc., opted to modify existing human anesthesia machines with custom circuits and tripods (upper right) to withstand his ponderous patients and the unforgiving Alaskan shoreline (lower right). Were he alive today, would Dr. Heidbrink have considered renaming Dr. Heath’s machine “Model Z” for “Zoological”? (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
Melissa L. Coleman, M.D., Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Jane S. Moon, M.D., University of California, Los Angeles, California.
