JOHN SNOW

Day Birth Death 15. 16. 3. 6. 1813 1858 City York (England) London

Father of Epidemiology Baptised at Anglican Church, All Saints, North Street

At 14 years, became an apprentice to William Hardcastle, a surgeon-apothecary in Newcastle He could not drink, gamble, or marry. Entered the Hunterian School of Medicine for a fee of 34. Became member of the Royal College of Surgeons at the age of 25 yrs.

Introduced scientific principles of anesthesia administration. Designed an inhaler that accurately, controlled delivery of ether while taking into account temperature changes

Studied and calculated dosages for the use of ETHER AND CHLOROFORM as surgical anaesthetics. Published paper On the

Inhalation of Ether.

Performed more than 5000 anesthetic procedures in 12 years of practice.

Types of cases were dental extractions, Lithotomy, Lithotripsy, excision of Breast tumors, treatment of Hemorrhoids, repair of Anal fistulae, repair of cleft Lips, and anesthesia for childbirth. (LLB, HAL) He studied the effects of respiration on circulation and the chemistry and physics of inhaled gases, with a special interest in anesthetic gases and their application to midwifery. Concluded that accuracy of delivery and patient monitoring were even more important when administering chloroform than when administering ether because chloroform was much more potent. A 15-year-old girl named Hannah Greener presented for the surgical resection of a toenail and was administered chloroform, which had been poured onto a tablecloth and held to her face. The procedure was done at her home. She rapidly became pulseless and died. Snow investigated this death and the deaths that followed. Published his conclusions in a letter to The

Lancet

Published the first treatise on chloroform.

He brought obstetric anesthesia into acceptance against religious, ethical, and medical beliefs administered chloroform to Queen Victoria

last two of her nine children Leopold in 1853 Beatrice in 1857 Developed a trochar and cannula that allowed tapping of the pleural space without allowing air entrainment.

He mapped out the spread of cholera and developed a transmission theory based on his knowledge of respiratory physiology. He published his theory in an essay in 1849, where he described cholera to be a communicable disease spread by contamination of the water supply.

Snow was a vegetarian Ardent teetotaler Believed in drinking pure water (via Boiling) throughout his adult life. He never married] He wrote a little-known pamphlet : On the adulteration of Bread as a cause of rickets At the age of 45, Snow suffered a stroke while working in his London office [2] died on 16 June 1858 buried in Brompton Cemetery

John Snow was voted in a poll of British doctors in 2003 as the greatest physician of all time.

Snow was of the heraldic supporters of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

The public health consulting firm John Snow, Inc is named after him.