Sir Robert Reynolds Macintosh (17 October 1897,

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

– 28 August 1989,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) was a

-born British

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

. He was the first professor of anaesthetics outside the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Early life

Macintosh was baptised with the Maori name Rewi Rawhiti. He was the youngest son of Charles Nicholson Macintosh, newspaper editor and mayor of

in 1901, and his wife, Lydia Beatrice Thompson. He spent part of his childhood in Argentina, but returned to

when he was thirteen years old. He was educated at

Waitaki Boys' High School Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students. The ...

, where he was head of school and excelled academically and athletically. In December 1915, he travelled to Britain and was commissioned in the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

, soon transferring to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. He was shot down behind enemy lines on 26 May 1917 and taken prisoner, escaping several times.

Medical

After the war, Macintosh trained at Guys Hospital Medical School, qualifying MRCS LRCP in 1924 and FRCS Ed in 1927. While studying surgery, he earned a living by giving dental anaesthetics and developed an interest in anaesthetics. In 1936, the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

approached

Lord Nuffield William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, (10 October 1877 – 22 August 1963) was an English motor manufacturer and philanthropist. He was the founder of Morris Motors Limited and is remembered as the founder of the Nuffield Foundation, ...

to consider endowing three chairs in medicine, surgery, and obstetrics and gynaecology. Nuffield, who had received an anaesthetic from Macintosh, agreed, but against the university's wishes, insisted on the addition of a chair in anaesthetics, to be held by Macintosh. They could not ignore the £2 million on offer and Macintosh took up his appointment in February 1937, the first professor of anaesthetics outside America. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Macintosh held the rank of Air Commodore and trained anaesthetists for the armed services. His research included hazardous experiments to test life jackets (immersing Edgar Alexander Pask in a wave tank while anaesthetised), the provision of respirable atmospheres in submarines and survival during parachute descent from high altitudes. Macintosh designed equipment that now bears his name: a

laryngoscope Laryngoscopy () is endoscopy of the larynx, a part of the throat. It is a medical procedure that is used to obtain a view, for example, of the vocal folds and the glottis. Laryngoscopy may be performed to facilitate tracheal intubation during ge ...

, an

anaesthetic vaporiser An anesthetic vaporizer (American English) or anaesthetic vaporiser (British English) is a device generally attached to an anesthetic machine which delivers a given concentration of a volatile anesthetic agent. It works by controlling the vapo ...

, spray and endobronchial tube. The laryngoscope he designed in 1941 remains the most-used today. It was developed from a Boyle-Davis mouth gag, used for

tonsillectomy Tonsillectomy is a list of surgical procedures, surgical procedure in which both palatine tonsils are fully removed from the back of the throat. The procedure is mainly performed for recurrent tonsillitis, throat infections and obstructive sleep ...

. Macintosh noted that this mouth gag indirectly elevated the

epiglottis The epiglottis is a leaf-shaped flap in the throat that prevents food and water from entering the trachea and the lungs. It stays open during breathing, allowing air into the larynx. During swallowing, it closes to prevent aspiration of food int ...

and exposed the laryngeal aperture. Macintosh studied unexplained deaths that occurred under anaesthesia and established a training programme. He travelled widely, giving demonstrations of "safe and simple" anaesthesia. Macintosh married Dorothy Manning, whose sister Mary, was married to

Archie Forbes Archibald Peter Sturrock Forbes CBE (5 May 1913 – 27 January 1999) was a Scottish colonial officer who was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative Development in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). Biography Forbes ...

Honours

Macintosh was knighted in 1955, and received many honorary doctorates and fellowships.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macintosh, Robert 1897 births 1989 deaths New Zealand medical researchers New Zealand academics Fellows of Pembroke College, Oxford Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford New Zealand anaesthetists People from Timaru People educated at Waitaki Boys' High School 20th-century New Zealand medical doctors

Early life

Medical

Honours

See also

References

External links