Douglas Chamberlain

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Professor

Douglas Chamberlain

CBE OStJ KSG
Born1931 (age 91–92)
Cardiff, Wales
Alma mater Queens' College, Cambridge
Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital
OccupationCardiologist
Years active1956–Present
Employer Royal Sussex County Hospital (1970–2004)
Known forCardiologist, expert in resuscitation and founder of paramedics in Europe

Douglas Anthony Chamberlain, CBE , OStJ , KSG (born 1931) is a British cardiologist who founded the first paramedic unit in Europe, revolutionising pre-hospital clinical care. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Chamberlain was born in Cardiff in 1931. His father was a coal merchant. He was not successful during his school years; he would frequently completely fail spelling and writing exercises. His parents sent him to board at Ratcliffe College, a private school near Leicester. There a school master realised he was very intelligent but had an 'inability to comprehend the written word'; a condition now called dyslexia. The extra help he was then given meant he passed the entrance exam to Queens' College, Cambridge, to study medicine. [3]

Difficulty telling left and right, and a preference for rowing over the dissection room, almost caused him to fail on anatomy. A case of mistaken identity meant he passed; the external examiner wrongly thought he was the son of a famous physician and passed him. He graduated from the university in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA), that was later promoted to Master of Arts (MA). [3] He then studied at Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital, qualifying as a doctor in 1956 [4] as Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB, BChir). [5]

Career

During his pre-registration year, 1957, Chamberlain remained at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He first undertook a nine-month appointment as house physician then three months as a house surgeon. His career direction in medicine rather than surgery was confirmed by a disastrous house surgeon rotation. He had been described by his surgical supervisor as the worst house surgeon he had ever encountered. [3]

Chamberlain served as a Senior House Officer at Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath and then took a role as Resident Medical Officer at the country branch of the National Heart Hospital in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire while studying for the MRCP diploma.

He entered national service on 5 January 1959, commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps, British Army as a lieutenant (service number 459368) and was posted to the British Military Hospital (BMH) in Iserlohn. [6] He was promoted to captain (acting Major) on 5 January 1960 and posted to BMH Hostert in Rheindahlen. [7]

After a short spell working in chest medicine at the Brompton Hospital, Chamberlain returned to Cardiology at St Bartholomew's in January 1962 as a research Registrar and at the end of the tenure was promoted to Senior Registrar in December 1966. He served 2 years of the 4-year posting before taking a year's fellowship in Massachusetts General Hospital in 1968 working within the orbit of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, a subdivision of the Department of Cardiology before returning for a final year at St Bartholomew's. Much of his research centred around the sympathetic nervous system, beta-blocking drugs, and pacing

He worked at the Royal Sussex County Hospital between 1970 and 1991 [8] as a Consultant Cardiologist, and as Honorary Consultant subsequently. [9]

Chamberlain, together with Peter Baskett, trained ambulance personnel in resuscitation from late 1970. [10] This was a pivotal moment in the development of the paramedic profession and Chamberlain and Baskett's work here and subsequently are acknowledged as the naissance of paramedics in Europe. Paramedics are now acknowledged as an autonomous and regulated profession and are still recognized for their abilities in cardiac care - as was first discovered by Chamberlain when teaching ECG recognition and cardiac care to nurses, doctors and ambulancemen from the 1970s to the mid-1990s in Brighton. [11] [12]

During this period, Chamberlain developed his 10 Rules of a normal ECG, a foundation to ECG interpretation used all over the world to this date. [13] [ unreliable source? ]

Chamberlain maintained a major interest in resuscitation and prehospital care, and played a role in the development of the European Resuscitation Council and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. Though now in his 80s, Chamberlain is an Honorary Advisor to South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and 'is available any time of the day or night to take calls from paramedics'.

He co-edited Cardiac Arrest: The Science and Practice of Resuscitation Medicine, a reference book on advanced life support and resuscitation medicine. It was winner of the 2008 British Medical Association prize in Cardiology. [14] He is Editor Emeritus of Resuscitation, the official journal of the European Resuscitation Council, [15] and has been author or co-author of over 200 papers.

Honours

In the 1988 New Year Honours, Chamberlain was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). [16] In June 1989, he was appointed Officer of the Order of St. John (OStJ). [5] He is also a Knight of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great (KSG) [17] and an Honorary Fellow of the College of Paramedics.

Chamberlain was made an honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) by the University of Sussex in 1989, Hertford in 2003, and Coventry University in 2008.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency medical services</span> Services providing acute medical care

Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. They may also be known as a first aid squad, FAST squad, emergency squad, ambulance squad, ambulance corps, life squad or by other initialisms such as EMAS or EMARS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramedic</span> Healthcare professional who works in emergency medical situations

A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), most often in ambulances. They also have roles in emergency medicine, primary care, transfer medicine and remote/offshore medicine. The scope of practice of a paramedic varies between countries, but generally includes autonomous decision making around the emergency care of patients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defibrillation</span> Treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias

Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current to the heart. Although not fully understood, this process depolarizes a large amount of the heart muscle, ending the arrhythmia. Subsequently, the body's natural pacemaker in the sinoatrial node of the heart is able to re-establish normal sinus rhythm. A heart which is in asystole (flatline) cannot be restarted by a defibrillator; it would be treated only by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and medication, and then by cardioversion or defibrillation if it converts into a shockable rhythm.

James Francis Pantridge, was a Northern Irish physician, cardiologist, and professor who transformed emergency medicine and paramedic services with the invention of the portable defibrillator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advanced life support</span> Life-saving protocols

Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a set of life saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation (breathing).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton and Sussex Medical School</span>

Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) is a medical school formed as a partnership of the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. Like other UK medical schools it is based on the principles and standards of 'Tomorrow's Doctors', an initiative by the General Medical Council outlining the role of British practitioners. Since opening in 2003, BSMS has produced more than 1,500 new doctors who now work across the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh Ambulance Service</span> NHS trust and ambulance service in Wales

The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust is the national ambulance service for Wales. It was established on 1 April 1998 and as of December 2018 has 3,400 staff providing ambulance and related services to the 3 million residents of Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South East Coast Ambulance Service</span> Provider of ambulance services for south-eastern England

The South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) is the NHS ambulance services trust for south-eastern England, covering Kent, Surrey, West Sussex and East Sussex. It also covers a part of north-eastern Hampshire around Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet and Yateley. The service was made an NHS foundation trust on 1 March 2011.

Door-to-balloon is a time measurement in emergency cardiac care (ECC), specifically in the treatment of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. The interval starts with the patient's arrival in the emergency department, and ends when a catheter guidewire crosses the culprit lesion in the cardiac cath lab. Because of the adage that "time is muscle", meaning that delays in treating a myocardial infarction increase the likelihood and amount of cardiac muscle damage due to localised hypoxia, ACC/AHA guidelines recommend a door-to-balloon interval of no more than 90 minutes. As of 2006 in the United States, fewer than half of STEMI patients received reperfusion with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within the guideline-recommended timeframe. It has become a core quality measure for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (TJC).

Tom J. Quinn was the UK's first Professor of cardiac nursing, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) for his outstanding contribution to research and practice of cardiac nursing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency medical personnel in the United Kingdom</span> People engaged in the provision of emergency medical services

Emergency medical personnel in the United Kingdom are people engaged in the provision of emergency medical services. This includes paramedics, emergency medical technicians and emergency care assistants. 'Paramedic' is a protected title, strictly regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council, although there is tendency for the public to use this term when referring to any member of ambulance staff.

Michael John Godfrey Farthing is British emeritus professor at the University of Sussex, where he was previously its vice-chancellor (2007–2016). His early academic career was in medicine, specialising in gastroenterology.

Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) is a healthcare charity focused on resuscitation education and training for healthcare professionals and bystander CPR awareness for the public.

Emergency medical services in New Zealand are provided by the Order of St John, except in the Greater Wellington region where Wellington Free Ambulance provides these services. Both have a history of long service to their communities, St John since 1885 and Free beginning in 1927, traditionally having a volunteer base, however the vast majority of response work is undertaken by paid career Paramedics. Strategic leadership of the sector is provided by NASO which is a unit within the Ministry of Health responsible for coordinating the purchasing and funding of services on behalf of the Ministry and the Accident Compensation Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath</span> Hospital in West Sussex, England

The Princess Royal Hospital, also known as PRH, is an acute, teaching, general hospital located in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England. It is the main hospital in the Mid Sussex district and is part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust along with the larger Royal Sussex County Hospital and several other facilities, mostly in nearby Brighton.

The Utstein Style is a set of guidelines for uniform reporting of cardiac arrest. The Utstein Style was first proposed for emergency medical services in 1991. The name derives from a 1990 conference of the European Society of Cardiology, the European Academy of Anesthesiology, the European Society for Intensive Care Medicine, and related national societies, held at the Utstein Abbey on the island of Mosterøy, Norway.

Richard Savington Crampton is a professor emeritus of cardiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was involved in the development of coronary care ambulances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Knight (cardiologist)</span> Professor of cardiology and hospital CEO

Charles Knight MD FRCP OBE is a British professor of cardiology and chief executive of St Bartholomew's Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Baskett</span> Northern Irish physician

Peter John Firth Baskett (1934–2008) was a Northern Irish physician, specializing in anaesthesia. He was responsible for the introduction of paramedics into the United Kingdom, created specialist ambulances for delivering on-scene pain relief to patients, and was the first chairman of the European Resuscitation Council.

References

  1. ↑ Lynch, Lucy (17 November 2008). "Special day for two Coventry University people". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Horsham district men are honoured". District Post. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Baskett, Peter (2007). "Douglas Chamberlain CBE DSc (Hon) FRCP FRCA FACC FESC—A man for all decades of his time". Resuscitation. 72 (3): 344–349. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2006.09.009. PMID   17240511.
  4. ↑ Chamberlain, Douglas; Baskett, Peter; Willis, Michael (2004). "From invalid transport corps to paramedic practitioners" (PDF). Barts and the London Chronicle. 6 (Spring 2004): 18–21. ISSN   1470-2282. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. 1 2 "No. 51767". The London Gazette . 16 June 1989. p. 7104.
  6. ↑ "No. 41616". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 January 1959. p. 643.
  7. ↑ "No. 41919". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1960. p. 180.
  8. ↑ Our Hospital Our History: Voices from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals. Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. p. 23.
  9. ↑ "Douglas Chamberlain". Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Patients and staff reunited in SECAmb's second survivors' event". South East Coast Ambulance Service trust. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  11. ↑ http://www.bhf.org.uk/html/The-first-paramedics-are-trained-in-England.html%5B%5D
  12. ↑ Whitbread, M (2002). "Recognition of ST elevation by paramedics". Emergency Medicine Journal. 19 (1): 66–67. doi:10.1136/emj.19.1.66. PMC   1725764 . PMID   11777883.
  13. ↑ "Google".
  14. ↑ "Cardiac Arrest". Cambridge University Press.
  15. ↑ "Editorial Board". Resuscitation. European Resuscitation Council. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "No. 51171". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1987. p. 7.
  17. ↑ "Association Members". Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain of Pius IX, Saint Gregory and Saint Sylvester. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
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