Harold Randall Griffith (July 25, 1894 – 1985) was a Canadian

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

and a leader in the fields of

anesthesiology Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

History

Griffith was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

the son of Alexander Randall Griffith, a medical doctor and homeopathic practitioner. His medical studies at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

were interrupted by World War I, where he served in the No 6. Field Ambulance and was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

for bravery at

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

. He received his MDCM from

in 1922, and an MD in homeopathic medicine from

Hahnemann Medical College Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: Hahnemann Medical College, orig ...

in Philadelphia in 1923. He developed his interest in anaesthesia as a medical student during which time he administered many anaesthetics and developed an acute awareness of the subtleties essential for safe anaesthesia practice with the drugs and techniques available at that time. Anaesthesia became his professional career and he served as Anaesthetist-in-Chief at the Montreal Homeopathic Hospital, subsequently renamed the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, from 1923 to 1959, and remained active as an anaesthetist until 1966. He introduced the use of

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon–carbon bond, carbon–carbon doub ...

(1923) and

cyclopropane Cyclopropane is the cycloalkane with the molecular formula (CH2)3, consisting of three methylene groups (CH2) linked to each other to form a triangular ring. The small size of the ring creates substantial ring strain in the structure. Cyclopropane ...

(1933) into Canadian anaesthetic practice. The outstanding achievement of his career was the introduction of muscle relaxants to the practice of anaesthesia on January 23, 1942, when he and resident Enid Johnson used

curare Curare ( or ; or ) is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South America for hunting and for therapeutic purposes, curare only ...

for the first time during anesthesia to produce muscle relaxation. On that day, almost one hundred years after ether anesthesia had been demonstrated by William Morton, he revolutionized the practice of anesthesia by demonstrating that a substance, which until then had been considered a poison, could be safely used to produce muscle relaxation for surgery. The introduction of muscle relaxants reduced anesthetic requirements, increased the scope of surgery, improved operating conditions and decreased morbidity and probably mortality. In 1943 Dr. Griffith established the first postoperative recovery room in Canada which he believed may have been his major contribution to patient care. He organized the Society of Canadian Anaesthetists in Montreal, which in 1943 would become the Canadian Anaesthetists' Society, and was the Society's first President. He was Vice-President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in 1946, elected President of the International Anesthesia Research Society in 1948 and from 1949 to 1952 served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. From 1951 to 1955 he became involved in formation of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists. He was elected President at the first meeting held in the Netherlands in 1955. From 1951 to 1956 he served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anaesthesia of

. He published over seventy medical publications over the course of his career. His personal papers conserved at the

Osler Library of the History of Medicine The Osler Library, a branch of the McGill University Library and part of ROAAr since 2016, is Canada's foremost scholarly resource for the history of medicine, and one of the most important libraries of its type in North America. It is located ...

, pertain to his introduction of

into

and contain correspondence, case records, and reprints in addition to the minute book of the Montreal Homeopathic Association.

Recognition

Feltrinelli Prize of Academe dei Lincei, Rome, 1954.
Hickman Medal of Royal Society of Medicine, London, 1956.
Distinguished Service Award, American Society of Anesthesiologists, 1959. (Only non-American to receive this award.)
Founder-President, World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists, 1959.
Canadian Anaesthetists' Society Medal, 1962.
Ralph Waters Award, Illinois Society of Anesthesiology, 1970.
Officer, Order of Canada, 1974.
Honorary LLD, University of Saskatchewan, 1974.
Canada Post Commemorative Stamp, 1991.
McGill University established the Harold R Griffith Research Chair in Anesthesia in 1992.

References

External links

*http://www.general-anaesthesia.com/harold-griffith.html * *
Harold Griffith fonds, P090

. McGill University Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Harold Randall 1894 births 1985 deaths Canadian anesthesiologists Canadian medical researchers McGill University Faculty of Medicine alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Hahnemann Medical College alumni Canadian recipients of the Military Medal