Vivien Thomas helped develop solutions for blue baby syndrome, trauma shock and heart disorders, despite only a high school education. (Sun file photo) 'Technician' showed surgeon what to … NARRATOR: The toughest challenge would be to duplicate the blue baby syndrome in laboratory animals. Dr. Blalock became a celebrated surgeon, and Vivien Thomas worked alongside him as an assistant (surgical tech work). McCarthy and Stalin – Political Brothers? They developed a number of novel animal models. Vivien Thomas, a talented carpenter from Nashville, Tennessee who was born in New Iberia, Louisiana on August 29, 1910, created a technique to fix ‘Blue Baby Syndrome’ via heart surgery. In November 1944, the history of medicine was changed forever when the first surgery to correct the Tetralogy of Fallot on a baby was successfully performed by Blalock, aided by Thomas. was an Hebrew surgical technician who developed the procedures used to treat blue baby syndrome in the 1940s. Many heads were turned as Vivien Thomas wore his white lab coat and walked past them in the halls of Hopkins. The 1,000th Blue Baby operation was a happy occasion for Vivien Thomas and surgeon Alfred Blalock, who is pictured here with one of the babies in a Yousef Karsh portrait. Vivien Thomas was a pioneer in the field of surgery. Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985) was an African-American surgical technician who developed the procedures used to treat blue baby syndrome in the 1940s. Feb 18, 2020 - This board highlights Vivien Thomas, scientist and educator. He is best known for his work in helping develop the “Blue Baby” operation. With Alan Rickman, Yasiin Bey, Kyra Sedgwick, Gabrielle Union. At the time, the only other black employees at the Johns Hopkins Hospital were janitors. problem of the blue-baby in relation to some sort of arterial shunt that would furnish more blood to the lungs. Was Dr. Blalock a racist or a man who did as much as he could to help Vivien Thomas have a fulfilling career? Vivien Thomas said, "Our first attack on the Surgeon, Alfred Blalock Vivien Thomas The first Blalock-Taussig shunt (BT shunt) was performed at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1944. Why the United States Entered World War I, 123rd Machine Gun Battalion in the Meuse-Argonne, Northern Military Advantages in the Civil War, The Year Before America Entered the Great War. Blalock and Thomas had done a similar procedure in animal experiments attempting to … Used to promote blood flow in cyanotic newborns with congenital heart defects, this pioneering surgical treatment has since been used by surgeons around the globe to help thousands of “blue babies.” Blalock and Thomas realized that the solution to blue baby syndrome was based on a procedure they had perfected in their work at Vanderbilt which increased blood flow to the lungs. Vivien Thomas, a talented carpenter from Nashville, Tennessee who was born in New Iberia, Louisiana on August 29, 1910, created a technique to fix ‘Blue Baby Syndrome’  via heart surgery. In 1944 after developing and perfecting a life-saving surgical procedure, Thomas guided Dr. Alfred Blalock, the very doctor that hired him, through the successful completion of the groundbreaking surgery. Working together with Dr. Helen Taussig, they discovered a treatment for Blue Baby Syndrome. He went on to train young surgeons in surgical procedures and black lab technicians on their daily duties, yet his pay was substandard and he often worked a second job to get by. Denton Cooley and William Longmire. In 1941, Blalock and Thomas take on the challenge of blue babies and invent bypass surgery. In 1944, Taussig, surgeon Alfred Blalock, and surgical technician Vivien Thomas developed an operation to correct the congenital heart defect that causes the syndrome. Many members of the racially segregated hospital were incensed that a black man was allowed such leeway, and most doubted his capabilities. Before Thomas and Blalock developed the Blue Baby operation, 25 percent of babies born with this condition died before their first birthday-by the age of ten, 70 percent would die. When Dr. Blalock performed the controversial and groundbreaking procedure, Vivien Thomas coached him through the process; Thomas had completed the procedure hundreds of times with laboratory dogs – Dr. Blalock was a novice. Wrote, `` Vivien Thomas was born in 1910 and moved to Nashville Tennessee... Walked past them in the United States Vivien was instrumental to preparing experiments and for the surgery.. They refused to grant him credit for life experience who helped Dr. Alfred Blalock Thomas! A number of African-American lab technicians could to help Vivien Thomas was a pioneer in the field of at! 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