Coffee break for Drs Richard Bailey and Victor Harrison, RAHC 1993. Source: M. Cooper.
Research, text and production by Dr Birgit Heilmann, for the Harry Daly Museum, Australian Society of Anaesthetists.
The Harry Daly Museum is very grateful for the assistance of all persons who have been involved in the online exhibition project. The audio sequences and photographs are published with kind permission of the owners. In particular, the Harry Daly Museum would like to thank the following institutions and persons:
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) Heritage Centre, Sydney, particularly Kathryn Hillier
St Vincent’s and Mater Health Archives, Sydney, particularly Anne Cooke
Archives of the Children’s Hospital Westmead (formerly known as Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children (RAHC), Sydney
Congregational Archives, Sisters of Charity of Australia, Sydney, particularly Denise Corrigan
Dr Michael Cooper
Dr Jeanette Thirlwell
Dr Peter Stanbury
Jiyan Mustafa
Special thanks to the interviewed persons:
Professor David Gibb (born 1939, graduated 1964 Sydney University, interviewed 2012)
Dr Des O’Brien (born 1927, graduated 1950 Melbourne University, interviewed 2011)
Dr Richard Bailey (born 1932, graduated 1956 Sydney University, interviewed 2012)
Dr Reg Cammack (born 1949, graduated 1975 University of New South Wales, interviewed 2011)
Professor Ross Holland (born 1928, graduated 1952 Sydney University, interviewed 2010)
Dr Harry Daly (1893–1980, graduated 1918 Sydney University, interviewed 1973)
Header image: Anaesthetist, RPAH Heritage Centre.
Copyright applies for photographs and audio quotes. Please contact the appropriate institution before using material from this website.
Recollections - Working in Sydney's Operating Theatres 
Congratulations on a great website which brought back many memories of my time as a student, resident and surgical registrar in Sydney in the 1960’s. I remember Richard Bailey in Cameron Wing with Harry Windsor and Mark Shanahan. I always say that it was an anaesthetist who taught me the importance of speed in closing an abdomen – Bill Jefferis was the Staff Anaesthetist at the Mater North Sydney in 1968 and he leaned over the anaesthetic screen and said to me “This anaesthetic will finish in ten minutes”.
I first gave an anaesthetic as a medical student in April 1942, in the Casualty Department of Birmingham General Hospital, UK, which I realise to my astonishment is 72 years ago. Surgical dressers anaesthetised for the incision of abscesses. I was taught by the student who had performed this duty during the previous week. The apparatus, as I later learned, was a fifty year old Hewitt gas and air machine, and his instructions were to give pure nitrous oxide until the ears turned blue, then one breath of air, followed by three of gas to one of air. If the patient started to twitch give an extra breath of air. After three days I became quite good at it, but it was never my intention to become an anaesthetist.