Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine

DRDC Toronto is a major military research station located at the former site of CFB Downsview in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of several centres making up Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).

The Centre’s roots go back to 1939 when the Department of National Defence (DND) recognized the vital importance of human factors in the ability of Canada’s armed forces to safeguard the nation in peacetime and at war. Recognizing the importance of aviation medicine to defence, an inter-departmental committee, the Associate Committee on Aviation Medical Research, was established in June, 1939, chaired by Sir Frederick Banting. Laboratory studies in pressure physiology began in the Banting and Best Institute, University of Toronto, where the first decompression chamber for human studies in Canada was set up.

To expand the effort, in 1940, the No.1 Clinical Investigation Unit (No1 CIU) was formed at the former Eglinton Hunt Club at 1107 Avenue Road with the construction of a low-temperature low-pressure chamber to support research on human capabilities under extremes of cold and high altitude. This led to extensive activity in the development of oxygen and survival equipment for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The second significant experimental facility constructed was the first human centrifuge in the allied countries, pioneered by Dr. Wilbur R. Franks and his colleagues. This was brought into operation in late 1941, and by August 1945 more than 13, 000 human runs had been carried out without a mishap. This machine was used to pioneer and create the world’s first anti "G" flying suit to go into service, when it was worn during Operation Torch during the battle for Oran with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in November 1942.

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