Vivien+Theodore+Thomas

by Hannah Owens
 * __ Vivien Thomas __**
 * Early life **
 * o Born on August 29, 1910
 * o Born in Iberia, Louisiana.
 * o Died November 26, 1985
 * o Full name is Vivien Theodore Thomas
 * o Grandson of a slave [[image:researchthetopic/HMO young Vivien Thomas.jpg align="right"]]
 * o Fourth out of five children
 * o Moved to Nashville, Tennessee
 * o Attended Pearl High School
 * o Hoped to attend college and become a doctor
 * o Great Depression disrupted his plans
 * o Father taught him carpentry starting at age 13
 * o Could work independently at age 16 age
 * o Worked at Fisk University in the summer doing carpentry
 * o Never went to college


 * Professional Life **
 * o Secured job as surgical research technician for Alfred Balock
 * o On his first day Thomas assisted Balock with a surgical experiment on a dog
 * o Within a few weeks he could start surgery on his own
 * o He was classified and paid as a janitor, though he did the work of a postdoctoral researcher in the lab
 * o Thomas and Balock did research into the causes of hemorrhagic and traumatic shock that was groundbreaking
 * o This work later evolved into research on Crush Syndrome
 * o Saved thousands of soldiers during World War II
 * o In hundreds of experiments Balock theorized that shock wasn ’t caused by toxins in the blood
 * o He determined shock was caused by fluid loss, and could be treated by fluid replacement
 * o When Balock was offered the position of Chief of Surgery, he requested Thomas accompany him
 * o On November 29, 1944, they first used their procedure to cur Blue Baby Syndrome on a human.
 * o It was an eighteen month old infant [[image:researchthetopic/HMO Vivien Thomas.jpg align="right"]]
 * o Wasn’t completely successful, but extended her life for a few more months
 * o Second was for a 11 year old girl
 * o Completely successful


 * Retirement and Death **
 * o after retirement Thomas wrote an autobiography, //Partners of the Heart//
 * o died of pancreatic cancer
 * o died at age 75
 * o book was published just days after
 * o writer wrote article about him in paper
 * o inspired film maker to make a documentary
 * o inspired another film maker to make a movie


 * <span style="font-family: Adobe Ming Std L,serif;">Citation **
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 1.5;">Tomas, Vivien T. //Partners of the heart//. Philadelphia: Univer ****<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 1.5;">sity Press, 1985. Print. **