James Otis Elam (May 31, 1918 – July 10, 1995) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and respiratory researcher. Elam was born in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. He completed his undergraduate education at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

in 1942. He then studied at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

School of Medicine. After doing an internship at Bethesdal Naval Hospital in 1945-1946 Elam went to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

for advanced studies. Based on his research at

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by surgeon Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. The ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

for understanding

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

absorption, he developed a prototype ventilator device that efficiently could absorb carbon dioxide during surgery, dubbed the Roswell Park ventilator. This was further developed into the ''Air-Shields Ventimeter'' ventilator that were used for a period of almost 50 years. Elam contributed significantly to the development and understanding of modern rescue breathing,

cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spon ...

(CPR), and brought it to the attention of the medical community and the general public. In 1954, Elam was the first to demonstrate experimentally that

(CPR) was a sound technique, and together with Dr.

Peter Safar Peter Safar (12 April 19242 August 2003) was an Austrian anesthesiology, anesthesiologist of Czechs, Czech descent. He is credited with pioneering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Early life Safar was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1924 into a m ...

he demonstrated its superiority to previous methods. Elam wrote the instructional booklet ''Rescue Breathing'', which was distributed throughout the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1959. He also participated in producing films demonstrating the life-saving technique and contributed with Peter Safar in the development of a mannequin called

Resusci Anne Resusci Anne, also known as Rescue Anne, Resusci Annie, CPR Annie, Resuscitation Annie, Little Annie, or CPR Doll is a model of medical simulator used for teaching both emergency workers and members of the general public. Resusci Anne was deve ...

, produced by

Laerdal Laerdal is a multinational company that develops products and programs for healthcare providers, voluntary organizations, educational institutions, hospitals, and the military worldwide. Laerdal has above 2000 employees in 25 countries. The head ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, that allowed the public to learn the technique in a safe manner. Elam received his medical doctorate from

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

in 1945. For his achievements in emergency medicine, Elam received a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Certificate of Achievement, and in 1962, the Albion O. Bernstein Award, the Medical Society of the state of New York's highest honor. In 1968, Elam, together with Robert Bauer, founded of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP).

References

External links

James Elam: ASA Biography

Science Heroes: James Elam

"Rescue Breathing" instructional film
where James Elam was, and acted as, one of the medical advisers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Elam, James 1918 births 1995 deaths University of Texas at Austin alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Minnesota alumni American emergency physicians

See also

References

External links