The development of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: an interview with Dr. John J. ‘Jack’ Downes

Abstract

Summary Dr. John J. ‘Jack’ Downes (1930–), the anesthesiologist‐in‐chief at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (1972–1996), has made numerous contributions to pediatric anesthesia and critical care medicine through a broad spectrum of research on chronic respiratory failure, status asthmaticus, postoperative risks of apnea in premature infants, and home‐assisted mechanical ventilation. However, his defining moment was in January 1967, when The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia inaugurated its pediatric intensive care unit—the first of its kind in North America. During his tenure, he and his colleagues trained an entire generation of pediatric anesthesiologists and intensivists and set a standard of care and professionalism that continues to the present day. Based on an interview with Dr. Downes, this article reviews a career that advanced pediatric anesthesia and critical care medicine and describes the development of that first pediatric intensive care unit at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Half a century of anesthesia for children: An interview with Dr. Nishan G. ‘Nick’ Goudsouzian

“…Toward the end of his residency, Dr. Goudsouzian spent a 3‐month elective at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, his first exposure to an established environment of specialized pediatric anesthesia and critical care. There he met Dr. John Downes, who would in 1967 establish the first Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in America . Dr. Downes became a mentor and friend, and helped promote and develop Nick's interest in pediatrics.…”

The development of pediatric anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital: an interview with Dr. Theodore Striker

“…Cognizant that these children demanded highly specialized care, they carved out some empty space near the operating rooms and converted it into a makeshift ICU. They simultaneously created the first blood gas laboratory in the hospital .…”

“…To him, the appropriate intervention was clear. Despite the lack of precedent for this approach, the anesthesiologists at CHOP had recently opened a PICU, and Marvin was exactly the kind of child who belonged in it .…”

The development of a specialty: an interview with Dr. Mark C. Rogers, a pioneering pediatric intensivist

“…Like his friend and colleague, Dr. John J. Downes , Rogers trained a veritable ‘who's who’ of pediatric intensivists and anesthesiologists while at Hopkins (Table ). He and his students were, and still are, leading clinicians, educators, researchers, and administrators who have transformed pediatric critical care medicine and anesthesiology into what it is today.…”