On Sunday 12th May, as part of this year’s Bristol Festival of Ideas, I had the good fortune to listen to a talk entitled ‘Extremes: Life, Death and the Limits of the Human Body’. Delivered by Dr Kevin Fong (who has degree in astrophysics as well as medicine), the talk was a captivating blend of medical and engineering history. Dr Fong interspersed his talk with fascinating stories showing how advances in medical science have been influenced by human exploration and pioneering work in aeronautical and mechanical engineering and technology.
The most gripping story was that of Dr Anna Bågenholm, a Swedish radiologist who in 1999 was successfully resuscitated after more than 2 hours without a spontaneous heartbeat. This happened following a catastrophic skiing accident which resulted in Dr Bågenholm suffering extreme hypothermia. The hypothermia, combined with other factors most definitely saved her life. Dr Fong used the steps involved in Dr Bågenholm’s resuscitation and survival to illustrate major advances in 20th century medicine and the stories behind those advances.
Particularly hair-raising was the history of heart surgery. From the battlefields of the 19th century to World War II; from glory-seeking, risk-taking surgeons in the late 1940s to the first heart transplant in 1968 to hi-tech heart surgery today - Dr Fong showed how far this branch of medicine has come in a relatively short space of time. Also noteworthy was the history of burns reconstruction, the birth of plastic surgery and how the advent of World War II advanced this branch of medicine. The explanation of how doctors managed to keep skin alive long enough for it to be transplanted using something called ‘a waltzing pedicle’ was engrossing but also slightly unpleasant!
Dr Fong’s talk was based on his book which bears the same title. If it is half as good (and I think it will be), I will definitely recommend it to all our students interested in pursuing medical and engineering degrees at university, as well as anyone else just interested in science. For a slightly longer talk by Dr Fong (17 mins), click here.
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Mrs Osafo