Letter from Virginia Apgar to L. Joseph Butterfield

Butterfield and his residents at the University of Colorado Medical Center modified the order and wording of the Apgar score's five points, so that they spelled APGAR. This epigram form proved a useful teaching device, and Butterfield passed it along to Apgar. As this response indicated, Apgar was delighted by the innovation. By the late 1960s it had become the standard for Apgar score forms.