HAND ME THE AIR GAUGE NURSE - Ira Allen was a bad man. At least that is what the judge said when he sentenced Ira to a term at the county prison farm. But Dr. A.T. Coleman and his colleagues were fascinated with Ira. Allen was brought into Dr. Coleman's office one day in 1922. Ira rolled up his sleeve and prepared to get a shot. As Dr. Coleman's needle punctured Allen's vein, something remarkable happened. Instead
of an oozing of blood, Coleman heard the swishing sound of air escaping from Ira's arm. Yes, I said air. Coleman compared the sound to the puncture of a bicycle tire. He tried another vein and then still another as blood sprinkled all over his clothing. Coleman kept telling himself that this man should not be alive. Air in the blood usually means sudden death due to an embolism. As Allen became somewhat agitated and fearful, who wouldn't, at the doctor's incessant sticking, Coleman stopped his prodding and waited to see if Allen would survive. He did, much to the amazement of Coleman and Dr. J.B. Donaldson, who witnessed the examination and confirmed it to the newspaper.
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