The journal of spinal cord medicine
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Biography Historical Article
Linking spinal cord injury rehabilitation between the World Wars: The R. Tait McKenzie legacy.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) medicine emerged after World War II due to mass casualties, which required specialized treatment centers. This approach to categorical care, however, was first developed during World War I, led by pioneers R. Tait McKenzie and George Deaver, who demonstrated that soldiers disabled by paralysis could return to society through fitness/mobility, recreational and vocational training. ⋯ Harry Botterell and Al Jousse, founders of Lyndhurst Lodge, the first SCI center in Canada, adopted Deaver's principles and techniques of rehabilitation and Donald Munro's approach to medical complications. The consequences of failing to organize continuity of care in World War I were recognized both by consumers and physicians. Together with John Counsell, a World War II veteran, they formed the Canadian Paraplegic Association, which "revolutionized" the care of veterans with SCI, as well as civilians, women, and children.
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Cardiorespiratory fitness training is commonly provided to manual wheelchair users (MWUs) in rehabilitation and physical activity programs, emphasizing the need for a reliable task-specific incremental wheelchair propulsion test. ⋯ The WPTTreadmill is a reliable test to assess cardiorespiratory fitness among MWUs. TTE and number of increments could be used as reliable outcome measures when VO2 measurement is not possible.