It Takes Your Breath Away (British Medical Association, 1964)

The effect on the lungs of living in a polluted atmosphere is briefly shown on pathological specimens. Two patients are seen, one of whom had to change his job on account of reduced respiratory capacity due to bronchitis. This film uses very evocative footage of polluted city centres and inner city housing ; showing widespread burning of fossil fuels in industry and the home, as well as a hospital. The results are smutty deposits over everything.

Tobacco or Health (PAHO/WHO, 1988)

Video focuses on the serious hazards of smoking, including how second-hand smoke affects those exposed to it. The move to ban smoking in public places is mentioned, as is regulation of cigarette advertisting and the trend towards banning smoking on airplanes. A series of short vignettes with people miming the grinding-out of a cigarette is shown. Yul Brynner's televised "Don't Smoke" plea recorded shortly before his death from lung cancer is shown.

Community Health and You (McGraw-Hill Text-Films, 1954)

Teenagers learn how the average health department--working with community hospitals, family physicians, and private agencies--helps to maintain high standards of health. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9616517(link is external) Learn more about the National Library of Medicine's historical audiovisuals program at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films(link is external)

Three Counties Against Syphilis (USPHS, 1938)

This film shows the work of the mobile syphilis detection and treatment unit of McIntosh, Glynn, and Camden counties in rural southeastern Georgia. The inside of the mobile clinic is shown. The films shows the route taken and the unit going into canneries, wood pulp factories, logging camps, country dance halls, elementary schools, and churches to treat patients with bismuth and arsphenamine injections. It shows both the Kahn and Wasserman blood tests and explains how to read the results.

A 50-50 Chance (USPHS, 1967)

The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate the problems and emotional crises faced by a family when the young mother contracts tetanus. This is achieved in a dramatized portrayal of her life and activities using a flashback technique. The program stresses the importance of immunization, which is virtually 100% effective. In this presentation the mother is shown critically ill in the acute stage of tetanus following a superficial skin scratch while gardening.

Public Enemy (USPHS,and Westinghouse, 1960)

Dr. Leroy Burney, Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, and other authorities discuss the hazards of air pollution, its major causes and what is being done to control it. The film shows air sampling apparatus and an exhibit and scenes from the Community Air Pollution Conference in Washington, D.C.

Gonorrhea: A Film in For Physicians in Technicolor (USPHS, 1943)

Diagnosis of gonorrhea should be done by clinical and laboratory investigation. The physician and patients are shown in the physician's office and examining room. The patients remove their clothing, and the physician takes samples from the end of the penis and makes thin smear slides from them. The techniques for stripping gonococci from male and female patients with chronic gonorrhea are shown in drawings and live footage. The physician is shown getting and preparing a urine sample for laboratory testing for the presence of gonococci, including using a hand-cranked centrifuge.

Plagues and Politics (United States Public Health Service, 1998)

This video traces the changes and growth of the United States Public Health Service from its authorization by John Adams in 1798 as the Marine Hospital Service to its reorganization in the 1970s. Still photographs and film clips are presented along with a detailed narrative history.

The Price of Survival (USPHS, 1957)

This film covers emergency plans necessary to cope with disaster situations. These animated public service announcements feature "four dangerous characters"-- ill-intentioned green figures representing four infectious diseases: diptheria, polio, lockjaw, and whooping cough. They search for susceptible individuals to infect, but are thwarted by the protection afforded their intended victims by immunization. Emmy Immunity is a pigtailed little girl who, at the end of each segment, emphasizes the importance of vaccinations.

An Outbreak of Salmonella Infection (USPHS, 1954)

This film tells the story of a group of soldiers who became infected with salmonella. First, clips of men getting sick and being taken to a hospital are shown, as the narrator explains that the men were experiencing abdominal pains, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and fever. A doctor then finds salmonella organisms in a stool sample from one of the soldiers, so the narrator explains the importance of looking back to the preparation of dinner to isolate the problem. After checking all of the food, it becomes clear that the chicken and gravy were responsible.

Behind the Smile (St. Louis District Dairy Council, 1939)

The importance of a healthy, charming smile from childhood to old age is stressed. Good teeth are necessary for a good smile. Proper dental care begins in utero. A physician shows a pregnant woman a chart picturing the foods she should eat. Regular visits to the dentist should begin at about age two years. A dentist waiting room filled with children is shown. A toddler and little boy are examined by the dentist in his surgery. Care of the temporary teeth is advocated. The dentist shows the boy how to brush his teeth.

T.B. Nurse Wallace (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, [1952])

This film is a dramatization of the arrival and settling-in of a newly-minted nurse at a tuberculosis sanitarium. At first she is unsure of her skills, and worried that she will contract the disease from her patients. She freezes during an emergency situation, but sees how the experienced nurses handle it, and as she becomes more experienced and confident herself, her perspective changes and her abilities are sharpened. She challenges one depressed patient to fight for his health, and the gambit works.

Practical Rat Control: Rat Killing (US Army, 1950)

This film details several methods of killing domestic rats, including various types of poison mixed into foods rats like, cleaning and repairing premises to discourage rat habitation, metal traps, and the elimination of rat harborages. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9423674(link is external).