The Iron Lung | Science Museum

1. What kind of patients it treated? Patients with ACUTE POLIO
2. Why? Because patients with polio had symptoms of ACUTE MUSCLE PARALYSIS and if it affected the chest, the patient could not breathe.
3. How is the Iron Lung a solution to this problem? Because Iron Lungs helped the patient to "Breathe"
4. Who invented Iron Lungs? Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw invented the first iron lung at Harvard School of Public Health

The Smith-Clarke Baby cabinet respirator, with built-in pump was made at the request of a paediatrician, 1956-1970. It influenced the later development of incubators for babies.

Going into an iron lung was a bewildering process for patients, many of whom were delirious and in extreme pain.

Life in an iron lung was difficult for both patient and carers. The numerous tasks involved in treating the patient included:

• blood transfusions
• intravenous glucose feeds
• inserting and replacing catheters
• and endless adjustments to the body and equipment.

In addition to medical care, itches were scratched, noses blown, hair combed, bodies washed and bedpans inserted and removed, all through the portholes as far as possible. (See image above)

Once an effective polio vaccine was developed in the 1950s, the incidents of polio infection fell dramatically and only a very few machines were needed in hospitals. But patients dependent on them to breathe the old iron lungs were gradually replaced with modern ventilators.