Wilfred Gordon Bigelow
Template:Short description Wilfred Gordon "Bill" Bigelow Template:Post-nominals (June 18, 1913 – March 27, 2005) was a Canadian heart surgeon known for his role in developing the artificial pacemaker and the use of hypothermia in open heart surgery.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of Dr. Wilfred Abram Bigelow, founder of the first private medical clinic in Canada, and Grace Ann Gordon, nurse and midwife, he gained his MD from the University of Toronto in 1938. He served during World War II as a captain in the Royal Canadian Medical Army Corps, performing battle surgery on the frontlines. He was appointed to the surgical staff of Toronto General Hospital in 1947, after spending a year at Johns Hopkins Medical School, and then a year later to the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto in 1948.
In the 1950s, Bigelow developed the idea of using hypothermia as a medical procedure. This involves reducing a patient's body temperature prior to an operation in order to reduce the amount of oxygen needed, making heart operations safer.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
He wrote two books, Cold Hearts and Mysterious Heparin. He served as a director of the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
In 1981 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.<ref>Template:OCC</ref> He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1997.
He was married to Ruth Jennings for almost 60 years. They had four children; Pixie, John, Dan and Bill.
References
External links
- A Biographical Sketch of Dr. Wilfred G. Bigelow at website of the Cardiovascular Sciences Collaborative Program, University of Toronto
- Wilfred G. Bigelow: From Cooling Hearts to Pacing Them Template:Webarchive
- Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
Template:Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Template:Authority control
- 1913 births
- 2005 deaths
- People from Brandon, Manitoba
- University of Toronto alumni
- 20th-century Canadian surgeons
- Canadian cardiac surgeons
- Canadian medical researchers
- Canadian Army personnel of World War II
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
- Presidents of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery
- Officers of the Order of Canada
- Burials at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto