The small, cylindrical steel airway is used to prop open the patient's mouth to allow air into the lungs. The opening has a wide, curved lip and is covered with T-shaped grating which prevents its use with an endotracheal tube as a bite block.mouth gag, mouth prop, bite blocker, c langton hewer, anaesthesia, endotracheal, airway, oral apparatus, tongue

Following the development of an ether mask that would exclude the inhalation of air, Ferguson has been attributed with the modification of a Hewitt's airway. Single aluminium tube with mouth prop covered in red rubber tube that has now adhered and not removable without damaging the rubber. There is a section cut out of the side of the rubber tubing through which the metal tube is visible.pharyngeal, frederick hewitt, alfred hospital, robert ferguson, airway

This photograph shows a Melbourne District Nursing Society (MDNS) Sister visiting a patient in his home. The photograph shows her taking his temperature and pulse and carrying out basic nursing observations. The Sister kept a record of this information in the man's Nursing History at MDNS Headquarters and conveyed it to the patient's Doctor as required.The Trained nurses of the Melbourne District Nursing Society (MDNS), later known as Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS), visited patients in their home and gave best practice care in many fields of nursing, and to people of many cultures, throughout its 130 years of expansion. Initial visits not only assessed the specific nursing situation but the situation as a whole. Their patients ranged in age from babes, children, adults to the elderly and referrals were taken from Hospitals, General Practitioners and allied Health facilities. Some of the care the Sisters provided is as follows: – Post-Natal care given to mother and babe, Wound Care following various types of surgery, accidents, burns, cancer, leg ulcers etc. Supervising and teaching Diabetic Care, including teaching and supervising people with Diabetes to administer their own Insulin, and administering Insulin to those unable to give their own injections. Administering other injections and setting up weekly medication boxes. The Sisters performed Catheterizations on adults suffering from conditions such as Quadriplegia, Paraplegia, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and Guillan-Barre Syndrome, and when required at school on children for e.g. those with Spina Bifida. The Sisters visited those requiring Cystic Fibrosis support and care; those requiring Haemo-Oncology care, including visiting children at school; those requiring Home Enteral Feeding care, and those requiring IV therapy at home and home Dialysis. Palliative Care was given including pain relief with the use of syringe drivers, personal care as needed, and advice and support to both patient and family. The Sisters provided Stoma management to those needing Urostomy, Ileostomy and Colostomy care and those requiring Continence care. HIV/AIDS nursing care was provided; visits to Homeless Persons were made. Personal care was given to patients ranging in age and with varying mobility problems, such as those with MS, MND, Guillan-Barre Syndrome, Quadriplegia, Paraplegia, Acquired Brain Injury, to those following a Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke), those with severe Arthritis and those with a form of Dementia. When necessary the elderly were assisted with personal care and advice given on safety factors with the use of hand rails, bath or shower seats, and hand showers. Rehabilitation with an aim towards independence remained at the forefront of the Sister’s minds and when possible using aids and instruction on safe techniques enabled the person to become fully independent. All care included giving advice and support to the patient and their Carers. The Sisters liaised with the persons Doctor, Hospital and allied Health personal when necessary.This black and white photograph shows a Melbourne District Nursing Society (MDNS) Trained nurse (Sister) standing on the left of a man who is in his bed on the veranda of his home. She is wearing a white gown over her uniform and her grey uniform hat, which has a hatband showing a Maltese cross in the centre; she has her left hand on the man's right wrist and is looking down at a watch she is holding in her right hand. The man, who has short dark hair, is holding a thermometer in his mouth. He is partly propped up with his head resting on a white covered pillow; part of the iron frame of the bed is seen to its left. Most of his body is covered with light coloured bedclothes; part of his pyjamas can be seen. Part of a vase of flowers is seen just behind the Sister's left arm. In the left of the photograph, part of the weatherboards of the house can be seen with a window, partly obscured with a blind. To the right of the man is a veranda post and some pickets of a wooden fence; behind him part of a brick wall is seen.melbourne district nursing society, mdns, mdns uniforms, rdns, royal district nursing service

Bull & Mouth Hotel Main Street Stawell Built 1907 with Pioneer Motor company Later Pioneer Coaches Pty Ltd. Prop: Albert A Withers 1862-1929. Probably Nash Extended Chassis c1923 14-18 passengers.stawell streetscape transport

The advent of anaesthesia posed immediate problems for the oral surgeons and dentists who were used to operating on awake patients with intact airway reflexes. Early anaesthetics were very light and often created an uncooperative patient. Dentists were quick to complain they had trouble opening the mouth quickly enough and dental props soon made an appearance. Gags and tongue depressors proliferated, all initially devised to improve surgical and anaesthetic access, not to protect the airway. Other instruments for opening the jaws included the somewhat fearsome devices known as mouth openers. Heister's mouth opener was incorporated in anaesthetic practice but was not designed for this purpose. Lorenz Heister (1983 - 1758) used his device for mouth inspection and for operations on the palate, tonsils and teeth in the pre-anaesthesia era. He was not impressed with the way it was used by others in his life time and believed that it overstretched the jaw when used inappropriately. Despite its apparent brutality, the Heister mouth gag was still advertised for sale in 1983 and its useful mechanism has been incorporated into modern surgical retractors.Steel cork-screw shaped object with a twist top handle which will force the two arms apart. Each arm has ribbing toward the end to create friction when inserted in the mouth.Stamped into the twist top handle: MAYER & MELTZERheister, mouth gag, mouth opener

The advent of anaesthesia posed immediate problems for the oral surgeons and dentists who were used to operating on awake patients with intact airway reflexes. Early anaesthetics were very light and often created an uncooperative patient. Dentists were quick to complain they had trouble opening the mouth quickly enough and dental props soon made an appearance. Gags and tongue depressors proliferated, all initially devised to improve surgical and anaesthetic access, not to protect the airway. Other instruments for opening the jaws included the somewhat fearsome devices known as mouth openers. Heister's mouth opener was incorporated in anaesthetic practice but was not designed for this purpose. Lorenz Heister (1983 - 1758) used his device for mouth inspection and for operations on the palate, tonsils and teeth in the pre-anaesthesia era. He was not impressed with the way it was used by others in his life time and believed that it overstretched the jaw when used inappropriately. Despite its apparent brutality, the Heister mouth gag was still advertised for sale in 1983 and its useful mechanism has been incorporated into modern surgical retractors. This Heister heavy patterned mouth opener was acquired from an Italian Army medical unit at Tobruk in 1941 and donated to the museum in 1946.Scissor-like metal device with a screw mechanism at the top which allows for the open or closed position to be locked.heister, lorenz, mouth opener, gag, heavy patterned