Pioneers in South African Anaesthesia: Professor Arthur Bull and the Taurus Radiofrequency Blood Warmer

Abstract

Arthur Barclay Bull graduated MBChB at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1943. After internship at the New Somerset Hospital he joined the SA Medical Corps during the 2nd World War where be developed an interest in clinical anaesthesia. From 1948 – 1951 he underwent training as a registrar in anaesthesia at Groote Schuur Hospital. In 1953 he obtained the Diploma in Anaesthesia of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ireland and in 1960 became one of the 40 Foundation Fellows of the Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. From 1954-1955 he was appointed the Nuffield Dominion Clinical Assistant for South Africa in the Department of Anaesthesia at Oxford under Sir Robert Macintosh. In 1956 he was appointed Senior Anaesthetist at the newly opened Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. During that time he, together with Prof Pat Smythye, pioneered the use of prolonged curarisation and IPPV for treating tetanus. In 1960 he was awarded a WHO Travelling Fellowship and in 1977 an honorary fellowship from the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. He succeeded Dr CS Jones as Head of the UCT Department in 1961, was appointed Associate Professor in 1963 and became the first holder of the UCT Chair of Anaesthetics in 1963. He served two terms as President of the SA Society of Anaesthetists and was Chairman of the SASA Committee that drew up the first Guidelines for Practice in 1987. He passed away in 2001aged 80 years.