RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The University of Toronto’s lasting contribution to war surgery: how Maj. L. Bruce Robertson fundamentally transformed thinking toward blood transfusion during the First World War
JF Canadian Journal of Surgery
JO CAN J SURG
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP 152
OP 154
DO 10.1503/cjs.006317
VO 60
IS 3
A1 Abigail Tien
A1 Lt.-Col. Andrew Beckett
A1 Maj. Dylan Pannell
YR 2017
UL http://canjsurg.ca/content/60/3/152.abstract
AB During the Great War, Canadian military surgeons produced some of the greatest innovations to improve survival on the battlefield. Arguably, the most important was bringing blood transfusion practice close to the edge of the battlefield to resuscitate the many casualties dying of hemorrhagic shock. Dr. L. Bruce Robertson of the Canadian Army Medical Corps was the pioneering surgeon from the University of Toronto who was able to demonstrate the benefit of blood transfusions near the front line and counter the belief that saline was the resuscitation fluid of choice in military medicine. Robertson would go on to survive the Great War, but would be taken early in life by influenza. Despite his life and career being cut short, Robertson’s work is still carried on today by many military medical organizations who strive to bring blood to the wounded in austere and dangerous settings. This article has an Appendix, available at canjsurg.ca