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The iron lung, conceptualized in the late 1920s, was most notably the first line of defense against polio during the epidemics that occurred between 1948 to 1955. The device saved the lives of ...
An iron lung ward, as mocked-up for a film, circa 1953. Humans, like most mammals, breathe by negative pressure breathing: [12] the rib cage expands and the diaphragm contracts, expanding the chest cavity. This causes the pressure in the chest cavity to decrease, and the lungs expand to fill the space.
Emerson's father encouraged him to work on an artificial respirator after noticing the beginning of a polio epidemic. Emerson thus began his work on the iron lung in the early 1930s, improving the design of the Drinker lung. Completed in July 1931, Emerson's lung was quieter, lighter, more efficient, and cheaper.
Coppola, now 85, painted a bleak picture of his time in a polio ward. “I remember the kids in the iron lungs who you could see their faces on mirrors, and they were all crying for their parents.
An Emerson iron lung. The patient lies within the chamber, which when sealed provides an oscillating atmospheric pressure. This particular machine was donated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Museum by the family of polio patient Barton Hebert of Covington, Louisiana, who had used the device from the late 1950s until his death in 2003.
He was one of many children placed inside iron lungs during an outbreak of polio in the US during the 1950s. Iron lungs were also used in the UK. The last person to use an iron lung in the UK died ...
June Margaret Middleton (4 May 1926 – 30 October 2009) was an Australian polio survivor who spent more than 60 years living in an iron lung for treatment of the disease. [1] In 2006, Guinness World Records recognised her as the person who had spent the longest amount of time living in an iron lung. [ 1 ]
Confined to an iron lung after contracting polio as a child, Paul Alexander managed to train himself to breathe on his own for part of the day, earned a law degree, wrote a book about his life ...