This photograph shows Dr. Nelson M. Percy, the developer of the Percy system of whole blood transfusion. Percy was born in Dexter, Iowa, in 1875. In 1899, he graduated from Rush Medical College, and interned at Augusta Hospital where he became assistant to the chief surgeon, Dr. Albert J. Ochsner. The two men published "A New Clinical Surgery" in 1912. Dr. Percy became chief surgeon there in 1925, and chief of staff in 1935. He perfected the Percy method of whole blood transfusion (consisted of running a tube directly from the donor's vein to the person needing blood), used by Chicago hospitals before WWII, and development of the plasma technique. During WWI, Dr. Percy organized the US Base Hospital in France, becoming surgical director there. He became President of the Chicago Surgical Association in 1925, and also head of the American Goiter Association. Content can be used with the following standards: 4th grade SS 4.25 Technological Changes and SS-U.S. 9-12.23 Iowans Influence U.S. History in a lesson on medical advances in the early 1900s For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.
2018.009.026 [Print, Photographic]
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