Anesthesia mask
- Title
- Anesthesia mask
- Description
- During the Civil War, Confederate doctors administered chloroform by folding a towel or napkin into a cone. The chloroform was then dropped onto the cone and the cone held near the patient’s nose so that the anesthetic could be inhaled. If the doctor did not use great care, the chemical would burn the patient. The mask had to be held precisely one half inch from the face. The anesthesia mask helped prevent burning the patient’s skin. The mask could also be used for ether, a different and more expensive anesthetic. The mask is made of metal and is covered with a piece of cloth. The covered mask is placed over the patient’s nose, and the anesthetic is dropped onto the cloth. While breathing normally, the patient slips into a drug-induced sleep.
- Date
- 1860-1865
- Original Format
- equipment
- Extent
- Local Identifier
- Country Doctor Museum
- Subject(s)
- Medicine--North Carolina--History--19th century
- Anesthesiology--Apparatus and instruments
- Anesthetics--Administration
- Masks--North Carolina
- Location of Original
- Country Doctor Museum
- Rights
-
This item has been made available by The Country Doctor Museum for use in research, teaching, and private study. Researchers are responsible for using these materials in accordance with Title 17 of the United States Code and any other applicable statutes. For information regarding reproduction, please contact The Country Doctor Museum at hslcdm@ecu.edu;
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/ - Permalink
- https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/14376
- Preferred Citation
- Cite this item
- This item
-
Anesthesia mask
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- Found in theme/project
-
Health and Medicine
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North Carolina History and Fiction Collection
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This mask is actually a Yankauer-type mask, invented by New York City ear/nose/throat specialist Dr. Sidney Yankauer about 1904. There were a number of other inhalers used around the time of the Civil War, but the Yankauer mask shown here wasn't invented until almost 50 years later.