Have you seen an iron lung?
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (339644)
Rockingham, Australia
February 16, 2020 7:33am CST
Back in November 2019 I wrote about the polio scare that swept through Australia in 1954. You can catch up here if you’re interested:
While going through some photos, I came across this one taken in a museum in South Australia. It shows the old style ‘iron lung’. Those suffering polio were put into these machines which breathed for them as their own muscles were paralysed.
I remember seeing photos of lines of these machines in a hospital ward. They were often fitted with a mirror so that the patient could see a little more than the front of the machine that was breathing for him. I don’t how many eventually got out of these to live out their lives in wheel-chairs or whatever. My aunt was in one for a while and ended up being unable to walk although she functioned well in other ways.
What a dreadful way to spend the rest of your life.
This is part 2 of my previous discussion. You can read the first part here: https://www.mylot.com/post/3323251/the-time-we-almost-got-to-see-the-queen It turns...
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27 responses
@rsa101 (38164)
• Philippines
17 Feb 20
That is a nice piece of history you told about that and I have not read or known about this machine. I never knew that there is this contraption that caters to polio victims like you are trapped inside this machine in the hopes that your legs would be restored back to normal. I do not know how effective is this contraption in restoring them to their normal selves.
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@wolfgirl569 (106011)
• Marion, Ohio
17 Feb 20
@JudyEv Here they have a tube they can put in to do it for you like when you are in surgery. But they say it is painful.
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Feb 20
@wolfgirl569 It seems they use other methods now rather than iron lungs.
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@Alexandoy (65308)
• Cainta, Philippines
16 Feb 20
This is the first time that I've heard of iron lungs. I also didn't know much about polio.
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@Alexandoy (65308)
• Cainta, Philippines
17 Feb 20
@JudyEv now I remember that there was an issue of the vaccine on polio late last year. That our country is supposed to be free of polio but there are reported cases.
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Feb 20
@Alexandoy Yes, occasionally the odd case pops up.
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@resukill22 (25050)
• Las Pinas City, Philippines
16 Feb 20
Never saw that. Thank you for sharing it
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Feb 20
@resukill22 They have other methods now I think. Wikipedia says: By 2014, there were only 10 people left with an iron lung.
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@resukill22 (25050)
• Las Pinas City, Philippines
17 Feb 20
@JudyEv oh so means it is not available now?
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@DocAndersen (54402)
• United States
16 Feb 20
i have only seen them in museums. My mom was a nurse for many years, but they were not in US hospitals by the late 1940s.
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Feb 20
@DocAndersen It would have been awful before they had a vaccine for it.
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@DocAndersen (54402)
• United States
17 Feb 20
@JudyEv the Polio epidemic in the US was the biggest driver.
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@marguicha (222880)
• Chile
16 Feb 20
I remembered hearing about iron lungs when I was a child. And part of the adults in my house used the words to keep me away from other kids that might have the disease. There was a boy in the block who had had polio and he could not walk well. But I had never seen one until I saw your photo.
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@marguicha (222880)
• Chile
17 Feb 20
@JudyEv No. I didn´t know what it was when I was a child, bur the tone of my father´s voice (he was a pediatrician then) was worse than any nightmare.
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@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Feb 20
I have heard about these machines, but have never seen one. Did patients who ended up in the iron lungs eventually come out of them? If the muscles were paralyzed and the machine had to breathe for them, how were they able to eventually stop using the machine. I would think that once you were in one you would be stuck in there for the rest of your life. What a sad way to live back in those days, but I guess that was probably state of the art technology back then.
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@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
17 Feb 20
@JudyEv Well I'm glad to learn that people did emerge from them with the ability to breathe on their own.
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb 20
I don't know about the power issue. And I'm sure some spent most of their lives in one. I read of a man who had his in his dorm room in a US university. He spent half of each day in one. I think maybe some could breathe for themselves but it took a lot of conscious effort and wasn't something they could do all day - or when they were asleep.
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It's time for my walk...got to get some eggs.
@GardenGerty (160642)
• United States
17 Feb 20
I have seen pictures. I had an uncle who became disabled due to polio, I do not know if he was ever in an iron lung. My grandfather picked up the family and they traveled to the best therapies at the time. This was in the very early 1920's in the US. I understand water therapy and swimming were used. We were able to get polio vaccines in the early 1960's. They did it in the schools. Entire families would come in and get the sugar cube vaccines.
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Feb 20
We had needles first time but then got the sugar cubes. It seems many went into iron lungs for a short time.
@averygirl72 (37845)
• Philippines
17 Feb 20
So this is an old machine? There is no more like this now?
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Feb 20
Wikipedia says 'By 2014, there were only 10 people left with an iron lung. Most patients with paralysis of the breathing muscles use modern mechanical ventilators.'
It seems that most people are able to spend some time each day free of their machines.
@jobelbojel (35514)
• Philippines
17 Feb 20
I might have seen this before but didn't know what's it called.
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@Hate2Iron (15727)
• Canada
17 Feb 20
I remember seeing a little boy in one. It was before I started grade one and its not something i will ever forget!
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@JudyEv (339644)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Feb 20
I can believe that. How awful for the little boy - and for you too. It's not something you'd forget in a hurry.
@misunderstood_zombie (8142)
• United States
16 Feb 20
I always thought this would be a terrible way to live. I just watched a documentary how Jonas Salk vaccinated himself, children and his wife before there were any trials to prove that his vaccine worked.
I'm so glad it did.
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