Person Page - 226

     Pask, Edgar Alexander (1912–1966), anaesthetist, was born on 4 September 1912 at 188 Kedleston Road, Derby, the second son of Percy Pask (1880–1957), fruit importer, and his wife, Mary (1885–1952), daughter of Alexander Speedie of St Marks, Isle of Man, and his wife, Mary, née McCutcheon. He won an open scholarship from Rydal School to Downing College, Cambridge, and in 1934 he obtained first-class honours in the natural sciences tripos. In 1937, after study at the Royal London Hospital, he graduated MB BCh and was admitted MRCS, and LRCP. After house appointments at the London, where he became interested in anaesthesia, he was appointed house anaesthetist at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford. In February 1940 he became junior assistant to Professor MacIntosh of Oxford. He also obtained the diploma in anaesthetics in 1940.
     In May 1941 Pask volunteered for service with the RAF. At the physiological laboratory at Farnborough (which became the Institution of Aviation Medicine) he undertook research which frequently necessitated dangerous experiments on the human subject. He studied the efficiency of methods of artificial respiration and, because anaesthetized subjects had to be used, Pask himself was deeply anaesthetized many times. To discover whether RAF crew could survive if they bailed out of an aircraft at altitude, Pask also carried out experiments which involved his exposure to low oxygen levels, equivalent to those which exist at increasing heights. He then related the effects, especially on his level of consciousness, to actual descents. He showed that 35,000 feet was the greatest height from which escape by parachute could be made without oxygen with any chance of survival. He risked his life on each of many occasions.
     Of Pask's work at Farnborough the best-known relates to the design of flotation jackets. It was discovered that the Mae West would not support an unconscious subject with his head out of the water, and instead often turned the individual face-down. The only way to test improved prototypes was on unconscious volunteers, and Pask was anaesthetized many times wearing different jackets and then immersed in the pool at Farnborough, while the results were recorded on film. With MacIntosh he designed a new breathing system which allowed him to float in an unrestricted fashion while MacIntosh and the anaesthetic machine remained on the poolside. This (coaxial) breathing system was ahead of its time, and many years later a similar device was ‘invented’ and used in clinical practice. Pask's thesis for his MD was based on the life-jacket work. To test clothing for aircrew who might have to survive exposure, Pask parachuted into freezing seas off Shetland. He maintained that only in this way could he be sure that a particular idea would come up to expectation. His bravery was recognized by appointment as an OBE (military division) in 1944.
     After the war Pask was appointed reader in anaesthetics to the Newcastle division of the University of Durham, with the appointment delayed so that he could first spend time in the USA and Canada. He took up his post in May 1947, and was awarded a personal chair on 8 February 1949, thus becoming only the second professor of anaesthetics in the country. His research produced innovations in lung ventilator design, and an established chair was created on 26 October 1959. He married on 13 October 1954 Muriel Mary O'Brien (1913–1997), a nurse; a daughter, Susan, was born in 1955.
     Pask was a founder member of the Faculty of Anaesthetists and eventually vice-dean; he was also a member of council of the Association of Anaesthetists. He delivered several prestigious lectures and wrote many papers, and was the third recipient of the Association of Anaesthetists' John Snow medal. In 1965 he served as president of the section of anaesthesia of the Royal Society of Medicine.
     Pask had a charismatic personality and was truly a leader, being able to inspire all who worked with him and instil into them the same principles of utter dedication and care which were his own hallmarks. This influence ensured that several of his staff later attained great distinction. He was meticulous and gained a reputation for challenging questioning combined with requests for evidence to support any statement made. His incisive mind allowed him to make great contributions, and he was much sought-after as a member of committees.
     Although he insisted on the highest standards Pask was a kind and most considerate man, and closer acquaintance revealed an acute sense of humour. He was surprisingly small and of slender build with a craggy face and, usually, an enigmatic expression. His sudden and unexpected death after a heart attack at his home in Mitchell Avenue, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 30 May 1966 followed a spell of deteriorating health. He was buried at West Road cemetery, Newcastle.
John S. Inkster.²

Pask: a British hero
The news that a cigar butt discarded by Winston Churchill fetched almost £4,OOO at auction recalls an unusual episode from his wartime leadership.
In 1941, Edgar Pask, an expert in respiratory physiology attached to the RAF, was asked to devise a method that would allow Sir Winston to smoke while flying in an unpressurised aircraft, which necessitated wearing an oxygen mask. Oxygen being highly flammable, the danger is obvious. Pask modified a cigar holder attaching a side valve, through which the oxygen could flow.
An ingenious solution, certainly, but which never got beyond the prototype stage.
Pask was a true British hero whose yet more substantial contributions to the allied war effort involved a series of audacious experiments with himself as guinea pig. They included designing a life jacket that would prevent an unconscious pilot from drowning when ditched at sea. Pask volunteered to be anaesthetised before being thrown into deep water to test the modifications that would ensure the pilot's head remained above water.
He then turned his attention to devising a protective suit to counter the effects of hypothermia in icy waters that he tested by being parachuted into the sea off Shetland.
He was, notes Dr Ian Conacher in the Journal of Medical Biography, "the bravest man in the RAF who never flew an aircraft".¹²

Andrew Gordon Speedie Pask (28 June 1928 - 29 March 1996) was an English author, inventor, educational theorist, cybernetician and psychologist who made significant contributions to cybernetics, instructional psychology, experimental epistemology and educational technology. Pask first learned about cybernetics in the early 1950s when the originator of the subject, Norbert Wiener, spoke at Cambridge University, where Pask was an undergraduate student. Pask was asked to be of assistance during Wiener's talk.
Holding three doctorate degrees, Pask published more than 250 journal articles, books, patents and technical reports from funding from United States Armed Forces, the British Ministry of Defence, the British Home Office and the British Road Research Laboratory.
He taught at the University of Illinois, Old Dominion University, Concordia University, Open University, University of New Mexico, Architectural Association School of Architecture and MIT.²