Why a canary?

“A diamond is a lump of coal that stuck to it’s task…”

Leonardo da Vinci

I often include this image in my presentations for the South Australian Audit of Surgical Mortality. I allude to our audit program being the canary in the coal mine for excessive or concerning surgical outcomes. John Haldane was a Scottish academic, renown for self experimentation. He was an expert on toxic gases, largely by exposing himself to them. In the late 1800s, the coal mines of Britain were dangerous places, death was common. Explosions, collapses and fires were frequent, but toxic gases were the leading killer. Haldane looked into the matter and concluded that imperceptible carbon monoxide was the key culprit. Haldane proposed using canaries as an early detection system. Why canaries? Well, their fast fast metabolism made them very susceptible to MO, they fitted into small boxes. they were easy to breed, they were cheap to feed, their colour made them easy to see, and the absence of their song gave an audible waning signal. #micewerehardtoseeandhear #letsmakelamonade