RT Book, Section A1 Haynes, Ashley A1 Wax, Paul M. A2 Nelson, Lewis S. A2 Howland, Mary Ann A2 Lewin, Neal A. A2 Smith, Silas W. A2 Goldfrank, Lewis R. A2 Hoffman, Robert S. SR Print(0) ID 1163014556 T1 Antiseptics, Disinfectants, and Sterilants T2 Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies, 11e YR 2019 FD 2019 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259859618 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1163014556 RD 2024/11/12 AB Joseph Lister, often considered the father of modern surgery, revolutionized surgical treatment and dramatically reduced surgical mortality by introducing the concept of antisepsis to the surgical theatre.50 It was Lister’s ­understanding that microorganisms contributed to infection and sepsis from even the most trivial wounds that led to his search for chemicals that would ­prevent such infection. Lister demonstrated that phenol, a chemical that was used to treat foul-smelling sewage, could be used to clean dirty wounds of patients with compound fractures and dramatically increase survival rates. Soon thereafter, the use of phenol was expanded to surgical instrument cleaning and as a surgical hand scrub wash, ushering in the ­modern surgical era.