Draft:Anita Dorr

Anita Dorr was born in the year 1900, and after living a presumably typical life of an American white woman, she graduated from E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Buffalo, New York. She then continued to work there as a registered nurse. Soon, she joined the medical staff aiding wounded soldiers in World War ll. Dorr served in the Army Nursing Corps, a group created during the Civil War. Beginning in 1941, the group had a little more than 5,000 members, but during WW2, it shot up to 56,000 members. The Corps was founded by the American Red Cross, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency aid and disaster relief. Many of these women, like Dorr, saw military action and the same trauma that the soldiers experienced. As Online InfoBase states, “Of 215 army nurses who died in service, 16 were killed in action or died of wounds. More than 60 army nurses spent three years as prisoners of war....” Later, Dorr received a Major title and served in Africa and Europe during a series of war operations. After her services in the war, Dorr returned to working in the E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital, spending, all together, 24 years working there. During her career, Dorr and other nurses had gotten frustrated with the non accessibility of supplies in short amounts of time. At the time, nurses would fill their pockets with supplies and carry handfuls of equipment to a crashing patient. Often, this led to disorganization and additional stress to caretakers in front of a critical patient. In 1967, Anita Dorr created the “crisis cart” in her own basement. In it, they conspired which materials were needed, including quick antibiotics and an older defibrillator for a “crisis”. Her first prototype was a wooden wagon-type that was painted red with wheels. Later in the 1980s after her time, the cart was updated to steel due to infection and sanitary violations. The Erie County Medical Center staff in Pennsylvania retired her wooden cart for the newly mandated steel material in hospitals. As years passed the “crisis cart” became more frequently known as the “crash cart”. Because of Dorr’s efforts, the carts have improved patient care, organization, and nurses’ everyday lives within the emergency centers of hospitals. Dorr never patented her invention, but another man, Dr. Joel J Nobel, was credited as the creator of the crash cart.

After her invention, Anita Dorr has been credited with making emergency medicine a specialty. In an article published by University of Illinois Chicago School of Nursing, they state that “Her vision was to provide continuing education and a united voice”. She committed the rest of her life to serving that purpose. She went on to co-found the Emergency Nurses Association in the early 1970s. Originally, as the official chairman, she named it Emergency Room National Organization. Underneath her, her committee consisted of doctors supporting nurses in Emergency departments. The Association contributes to educational opportunities and scholarships for nursing programs. They work towards advocating for these nurses and their careers. Additionally, she served as a supervisor of admissions in the E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital and contributed to the New York State Technical Advisory Board on Emergency Nursing. In her final years, she tended to guards and prisoners at the Attica Correctional Facility and consulted with Paramount Pictures for medical TV. After her long, giving life of good, Anita Dorr passed away in 1972.