Would I Have Died? Meconium Aspiration Syndrome

*the following guest blog was written by Maddi McKay, 2012 Curatorial Assistant at the Museum of Health Care

It is my belief that, every once in a while, it is more important to examine the present than the past to truly understand the magnitude of various discoveries, achievements, and failures. This blog post will focus on imparting a (hopefully) touching story of human resilience both in terms of physical determination and of miraculous technological advancement. It’s my sincere hope that by telling you my tale, I will encourage you to make personal connections of your own to those in history, and to gain a solemn appreciation for what has been made possible in our time through humankind’s drive to improve.

15 years later… Remembering Nancy Malloy

As the recently appointed Assistant Curator at the Museum of Health Care, I am constantly finding out new and fascinating things about the objects in our collections and the broader history of health care that underpins them.  I also have the privilege of learning about the men and women who forged careers in medical science and who practice(d) medicine or nursing.  Just last week one such story was brought to my attention by Donna Mossman (KGH School of Nursing ’68).  She inquired whether the Museum of Health Care was commemorating the death of her classmate, Nancy Malloy, in any way.  After finding out about her work and untimely death, I would like to honour Nancy’s memory by telling her story.

Nancy Malloy, 1945-1996

A native of Brockville, Ontario, Nancy completed her studies at the KGH School of Nursing in 1968 and her Bachelors degree in Nursing Science at Queen’s University in 1969.  She worked for several years as a teacher in Montreal before moving to Vancouver in 1979.  There Nancy joined the BC branch of the Red Cross, working as a nurse and hospital administrator at remote hospitals.  During this time she also completed her MBA.

History of Health Care: Transformation of the Hospital

Figure 1. Original building. Image: KGH Archive

The Main Building of the Kingston Hospital was built between 1833 and 1835, however due to lack of operating funds did not open until 1845, with incorporation in 1849 when a lay board was appointed. They had a mandate to operate the hospital as a charitable institution required to “supply necessities and relieve the condition of sick and destitute immigrants and other transients and the mariners of the lake” (Figure 1).

There were a dozen doctors in Kingston, at that time a community of 8,000. One physician per month provided free medical services at the Kingston Hospital. The initial staff included a housekeeper/nurse and her daughter as a helper, both of whom died caring for patients during the 1847 typhus epidemic. In 1851 a steward was appointed and in 1854 the staff included a matron, two male orderlies and the steward.

History of Health Care: Quarantine and Isolation

Before the nineteenth century, quarantine and isolation had been practiced in an effort to protect the community from contagious diseases such as plague and smallpox in the absence of specific treatment. Such diseases were considered contagious even though the cause and method of transmission were not known.

Two important developments occurred during the last half of the nineteenth century. An understanding of the cause and transmission of contagious disease occurred due to research leading to the germ theory. Government assumed increasing responsibility for the protection of the community from contagious diseases with legislation that established provincial and municipal Boards of Health.

Image from National Library of Medicine, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/smallpox/sp_threat.html

Weekly Photo Challenge: Comfort

To open up the Museum of Health Care’s artefact collection we are participating in WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge. Based on WordPress’ randomly chosen themes, we’ll offer a serendipitous peek into our collection. Check in each week for a new curiosity.

Patient care package made by the Kingston General Hosptial Auxiliary. MHC Accession #005002004

 Click here to search the Museum’s collection online.

A Brief History of Isolation and Infectious Disease

Drawing about the Cholera in Le Petit Journal, c. 1912

Contagious disease has challenged society throughout human history. Quarantine and isolation was practiced in response to the pandemics of bubonic plague and cholera, beginning in the Middle Ages. In the 18th and 19th centuries, smallpox led to smallpox hospitals in some large urban communities. At the same time, citizens lived with the fear of outbreaks of typhus, typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever and influenza. The effectiveness of isolation was often limited due to the lack of knowledge of the cause and transmission of these infectious diseases.

The germ theory of infectious disease was formulated during the second half of the 19th century. In the absence of specific treatment, isolation became the principle strategy to prevent the transmission of contagious disease. The Ontario Public Health Act in 1884 provided for the expropriation of land for isolation hospitals and required separate facilities for smallpox. Kingston established a Board of Health and created high standards of quarantine with a freestanding isolation hospital and the isolation of contagious disease in the home.

Thank you for your Patronage to our Hall of Honour Exhibits at Kingston General Hospital

Curatorial Assistant Erin Manning (L) and Collections Intern Tanya Szulga (R)

Curator’s Blog guest post written by Collections Intern Tanya Szulga:Over the past twenty years the Museum of Health Care has created exhibits for the Kingston General Hospital’s Hall of Honour. Recently KGH staff is working on a new redesign of this area and as part of that design process asked the museum to remove the exhibits for construction and carpet removal due to begin in July 2011.

Fenwick Operating Theatre: a life-saving surgery in Edwardian Kingston

Bennie Stalker two weeks after surgery, October 1901, Source: Jim Bremner

Bennie S., age 10, on the 17th of September last was accidentally shot by his brother, a lad about two years his senior . . . The arm was nearly severed from the body . . . The patient’s father ascribes the arrest of the hemorrhage to the fact that there was an old man at the house who had a “charm” for stopping bleeding . . . A doctor was procured who came a distance of twenty-two miles and remained at the house for two days, relieved his suffering and applied dressings of carbolic oil to the wound. The arm speedily became gangrenous and the little sufferer was evidently not expected to survive . . . “seventeen days” after the receipt of the injury he was started on his long journey to the Kingston general hospital. Leaving his home at six in the morning lying on a mattress in a spring waggon he reached Calabogie station on the K&P railroad at noon and arrived at the hospital about 5 p.m.

These events occurred in eastern Ontario in September – October 1901. This account reveals much about the stark realities of rural Canadian health care a century ago, but at the same time, the amazing ability of the human body to survive severe trauma and the abiding human desire to care for the sick.