Health Sciences · Hospital for Sick Children
Seven red rubber cuffed endotracheal tubes of varying length. The cuff element of each tube is attached to a narrower tube with a flattened bulb (a pilot balloon) that is used to inflate the cuff. The thin rubber of the narrow tubing and the pilot balloon has deteriorated on most examples.
Accession Number: 2025.sk.77
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Rubber
Two examples among the seven are labelled with dark lettering:
Example 1:
“372 060// STREAMLINED CUFF// 6.5 HKTO// A. CHARLES KING// MADE IN ENGLAND// [British Oxygen Company “BOC” logo]”
…………
Example 2:
“[British Oxygen Company “BOC” logo] A. C. KING// 6.5 MM// HKTC// MADE IN ENGLAND”
Longest example Height = 5, Width = 1, Length = 26
An endotracheal tube provides a temporary artificial airway for a patient under general anesthesia. This example, like most such tubes, has an inflatable collar that is used to seal the tube against trachea.
These items are in poor condition. Where the rubber is thin, it is has become brittle. Most items are badly damaged in this area. Two examples have black labelling printed on their surfaces. Labelling on the remainder may have worn away through autoclaving.
Associated Instruments:
British Oxygen Company (B.O.C.), Woking, England.
Date of Manufacture: Mid 20th c., post 1939.
Provenance:
K. B. Thomas (1970) “The A. Charles King Collection of Early Anaesthetic Apparatus.” Anaesthesia 25, 4: 548–64.
D. J. Wilkinson (1987). “A. Charles King: A Unique Contribution to Anaesthesia.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 80, 8: 510–14.
Arthur Charles King (1888 – 1966) established a business selling hospital supplies in London after returning from service in the First World War. Over time, the business evolved from selling imported anesthesia equipment to manufacturing such equipment in collaboration. This involved collaboration with anesthesiologists, notably Dr. Ivan Magill (1988 – 1986). (See Wilkinson 1987, 510-511.)
In 1926, A. Charles King merged with Coxeter Ltd, a surgical instrument maker. In 1939, the company was purchased by British Oxygen Company (B.O.C.).