David S. Sheridan on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
David S. Sheridan (10 July 1908, 
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
– 29 April 2004, Argyle, New York) was the inventor of the "disposable" plastic endotracheal tube
A tracheal tube is a catheter that is inserted into the Vertebrate trachea, trachea for the primary purpose of establishing and maintaining a patent airway and to ensure the adequate Gas exchange, exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Many diffe ...
.
David was the second of six sons of Adolf and Anna Sockolof, who immigrated to the United States from Russia. He changed his name from Sockolof to Sheridan in 1939. He attended school until 8th grade when he went to work with his father and brothers in the hardwood flooring business.
David Sheridan was the inventor of the modern "disposable" plastic endotracheal tube
A tracheal tube is a catheter that is inserted into the Vertebrate trachea, trachea for the primary purpose of establishing and maintaining a patent airway and to ensure the adequate Gas exchange, exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Many diffe ...
now used routinely in surgery. Previous to his invention, red rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
tubes were used, then sterilized, and re-used which often lead to the spread of disease and also a high risk of infection. Sheridan is thus credited with saving thousands of lives.
He held more than 50 medical instrument patents and is credited with inventing the modern disposable catheter
In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tubing (material), tube made from medical grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgi ...
in the 1940s. In his lifetime he started and sold four catheter companies and was dubbed the "Catheter King" by ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine in 1988.
Sheridan died in upstate New York at the age of 95. The Argyle community dedicated a memorial to David and his wife Janet in October 2009 for their many contributions to the community and for their many years of public service.
Footnotes
Books
* 1908 births 2004 deaths Anesthetic equipment People from Argyle, New York 20th-century American inventors {{US-med-bio-stub