Charles Wesley Shilling, MD | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname | Chuck |
| Born | (1901-09-21)September 21, 1901 |
| Died | December 23, 1994(1994-12-23) (aged 93) |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1927–1955 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Awards | Golden Cross of theOrder of the Phoenix |
CaptainCharles Wesley Shilling (September 21, 1901 – December 23, 1994) was an Americanphysician who was known as a leader in the field ofundersea andhyperbaric medicine, research, and education.[1] Shilling was widely recognized as an expert ondeep sea diving, naval medicine,radiation biology, and submarine capabilities. In 1939, he was Senior Medical Officer in the rescue of the submarine U.S.S.Squalus.[1][2]
Shilling was born September 21, 1901, in Indiana on the campus ofTaylor University where his father was President.[3] Shilling later went on to receive aBachelor of Science from Taylor University along with aBachelor of Arts from theUniversity of Michigan in 1923.[4]
After completion of his medical training at the University of Michigan, Shilling completed an internship at the Chelsea Naval Hospital.[1]
In 1932, the Navy sent Shilling to theHarvard School of Public Health where he was joined byAlbert R. Behnke.[3][5]
In 1954, Shilling received an honorary Doctorate of Science from Taylor University.[3]
After joining the Navy in 1927, Shilling was sent to the Naval Submarine Base in New London, Connecticut where he was involved in the selection and training ofsubmarine crew.[1][6][7] Other work included research and development ofSubmarine Escape Immersion Equipment aboard the USSS-4.[1] Shilling was transferred to the submarine base in thePanama Canal Zone where he spent two years serving as medical officer aboard submarines as they traversed the canal.[1] This work also included treating the medical problems associated withsalvage diving operations.[1]
From Panama, Shilling was transferred to the Navy Diving School in Washington, D.C., where he learned to dive and began diving research at theNavy Experimental Diving Unit.[1] Shilling researched the topics ofnitrogen narcosis,oxygen toxicity, anddecompression table development including important research on surface decompression.[1]
In the late 1930s, Shilling was transferred back to the New London Submarine Base where he focused on hearing and vision for submariners.[1] His work involved the development of the methods and tools needed for selection of sound listening and lookout duty.[1][6][8][9] In 1939, a failed request for a $78.00audiometer resulted in receiving $3,000.00.[1] This small amount was spent to begin the first medical research laboratory dedicated to submarine research. This laboratory grew to become theNaval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL).[1]
In 1939, Shilling was the Senior Medical Officer in the rescue of personnel from the submarine USSSqualus.[1][2] Divers from the submarine rescue shipFalcon, under the direction of the salvage and rescue expertCharles Momsen, employed the newRescue Chamber he had invented years earlier but which the US Navy command had repeatedly blocked.[2] Earlier in development of the bell, they demonstrated that a bell could attach to a submarine torpedo room hatch but the submarine crew had not decided who should transfer to the surface in the bell. One of the crew stated, within Shilling's hearing, "Take the Doc. He's the most useless piece of furniture we've got".[1] Shilling then became the first person to go from a submarine to the surface in a bell.[1] Utilizing these techniques, they were able to rescue all 33 surviving crew members from the sunken submarine including futureRear AdmiralOliver F. Naquin.[2] Shilling later recalled that the untested submarine rescue procedures utilized with theSqualus incident "worked like a charm".[1] Later, the salvage divers used recently developedheliox diving schedules and successfully avoided thecognitive impairment symptoms associated with suchdeep dives, thereby confirming Behnke's theory of nitrogen narcosis.[10]
In 1947, Shilling left NSMRL for a position in theOffice of Naval Research (ONR). Four years of this post were spent directing medical, biological, and psychological studies and ended with two years as the director of the Research Division,Bureau of Medicine and Surgery as well as the special assistant for the BioSciences.[1] During his time at ONR, he established the Committee on Hearing and the Committee on Vision for theArmed Services National Research Council.[1]
Shilling's naval career ended with a post at theUnited States Naval Academy where he served as the Senior Medical Officer, Command Medical Officer for the Severn River Naval Command, and the head of the Department of Hygiene at ONR.[1]
Upon retirement from the Navy, Shilling served as deputy director, Division of Biology and Medicine at theUnited States Atomic Energy Commission from 1955 to 1960.[1] Here he managed multimillion-dollar research programs.
In October 1961, Shilling was appointed to head the Biology Science Communications Project that was located at theAmerican Institute of Biological Sciences and later moved toGeorge Washington University.[1][11] This project was funded by a grant from theNational Science Foundation to study "all phases of the communications problems as they relate to the biological sciences and scientists".[11] A major focus of this project wasindexing andabstracting the worldserial publications and ensuring their availability in the United States.[11] One important achievement was the organization of theCouncil of Biological Editors whose style guide provides guidelines for publications in the biological sciences.[1]
By 1973, the Undersea Medical Society (UMS), now theUndersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, had grown to the point of needing an office and hired Shilling as the first Executive secretary.[12] Here, Shilling applied his knowledge in diving medicine and biological communications to establish the UMS scientific journal,Undersea Biomedical Research.[12][13] The journal continued under the nameUndersea Biomedical Research until 1993 when it was changed toUndersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal.[14]
Shilling's experience withhyperbaric oxygen (HBO) in the treatment ofdecompression sickness allowed him to connect the diving community with the growing clinical HBO community.[1] In 1975, Shilling gathered 50 experts in HBO therapy for a workshop conceived by Dr. Behnke.[1] The workshop was chaired by Dr. Jefferson Davis and the group eventually published the definitive textHyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.[1] The UMS also created a committee to periodically review the scientific evidence supporting the use of HBO and the firstHyperbaric Oxygen Committee Report was published in 1977.[1] Shilling served as Executive secretary until his retirement in 1987.[12]
Following his retirement from the UHMS, Shilling took a two-year post as Distinguished scientist at theArmed Forces Institute of Pathology.[3]
The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society's library was started by the efforts of Dr. Shilling. The UHMS Charles W. Shilling Library is the largest repository of diving and hyperbaric research and clinical information –current and historical–in the world.[12] Thelibrary is located at theDuke University Medical Center (DUMC) Library in Durham, North Carolina.[16] The collection consists ofbooks,journals,reports,workshops,symposia, conferenceproceedings, andannotated bibliographies spanning the fields of diving, hyperbaric, andmarine medicine. There is a small journal and newsletter collection dealing with diving safety and diving medicine. The library has extensive reprint files of articles, cataloged byauthor, related to diving and hyperbaric medicine and dating back to the 1930s.
Many of the UHMS publications have beenscanned and are available online at theRubicon Research Repository.[13][14] Other articles can be found in the DUMCArchivefinding aids.[17]
Shilling's portrait, painted by Daniel Thompson of theCorcoran Gallery andSchool of Art, was dedicated October 23, 1994.[15] It currently resides on the second floor of the DUMC Library.
Shilling was a member of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, theAmerican Physiological Society, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, theAerospace Medical Association, theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, andSigma Xi.[4] Shilling received the Founders Medal from the Association of Military Surgeons for work in diving medicine (1953); the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Michigan (1959); the Golden Cross of theOrder of the Phoenix from theGreek Government for creating a method ofradiation sterilization of afly, a technique which helped save the Greekolive crop (1960); Alumnus of the Year from Taylor University (1960); the Albert Behnke Award from the UHMS (1975); the New Orleans Grand Isle (NOGI) Award from the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (1979); the Chamber of Achievement Award from Taylor University (1980); the Florida Underwater Council Service Award (1980); theSmithsonian Science Information Exchange Award (1980); the Schiffahrtmedizinsches Institut Der Marine Award (1980); and in 1982, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society established the C.W. Shilling Award in his honor, Shilling was also the first recipient.[4] He was a member of the Cosmos Club,[18] where he and his wife used to like to take friends to dinner.
Shilling died on December 23, 1994, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is buried inArlington National Cemetery with his wife Miriam.
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