Children in an iron lung before the advent of the polio vaccination, 1950

A barbell or as it is officially called a negative pressure ventilator, is a form of medical ventilator that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control is lost or the person's ability to breathe. becomes more than This creates less pressure around the thorax and it expands the rib cage and draws air into the lungs.

Polio causes the body to lose control of the muscles, including the diaphragm. Since the diaphragm uses pressure to control oxygen intake (expanding and decreasing pressure in the lungs, allowing air to flow), this machine can increase and artificially decrease pressure to make breathing possible. controls.

Paulo Henrique Machado, a Brazilian man who was hospitalized for 45 years after suffering from childhood polio:

Forced to live in what was called a 'torpedo' - effectively a body-covering iron lung - during his early years, he was forced to create his own 'universe' within the confines of his hospital prison. Had to be His earliest memories are of 'searching' the corridors of each ward in a wheelchair, roaming the other children's rooms, his only toy being his imagination.

But, with an average life expectancy of only ten years, Paulo and Eliana (his hospital friend) saw all their friends die one by one. The doctors never understood why Paulo and Eliana outlived the others, but they say that the experience has brought them closer, while sad. 'It was difficult,' says Machado. 'Every loss was like a piecemeal, you know, physical ... like an amputation. Now, there are only two of us left - me and Eliana.' The risk of infection is high for Paulo and Eliana, so they rarely leave the hospital.

Another story of survival of the iron lung, the story of Mary Virginia:

Mary Virginia was born in 1930 to an affluent family. He had a very happy childhood until the summer of 1937. Mary Virginia went to the neighborhood swimming pool and had a lovely time. The next day, just before bedtime, she felt a little fuzzy. His mother touched his forehead: the child was in a slight fever, so his mother called the doctor.

Within hours, Mary Virginia couldn't control her lower body; Within two days she was in a hospital, with an iron lung. She told her granddaughter that she shared a communal iron lung (an "Emerson", she called it) with four other children at a time.

Dozens of children in the hospital were suffering from polio. Business was high. Within six months, he and only two others were left of the original group he had seen. Lung turnover in the communal iron was accelerated for one serious reason: the children died. Mary Virginia stopped counting her lost comrades at the age of 24: she didn't know how to count more than that.

Since then he has hated the number 24: it reminded him of the children he had seen die. Mary Virginia lived in an iron lung for 3-4 years. The nurses treating him would move his arms and legs to maintain some sort of muscle. His parents would visit him throughout the years he spent in the hospital, but although they were financially well off, the price and length of the train journey meant that their travel was limited.

Mary Virginia's mother always felt guilty for this. Still, most parents saw Mary Virginia more often than their children. Mary Virginia's granddaughter Heather remembers her grandmother telling her that her mother had brought "knitted hats, and little trinkets" for the children. And books, books were very important".

How will the patient use the bathroom?

The front part of the iron lung where the patient's head comes out is attached to the "tin can" and can be opened and taken out, thus exposing the patient's body to the bed.

She is picked up by a nurse and a bed is placed under her. The iron lung then closes where it starts breathing. The process is repeated to remove the pan.

About Polio

Polio is a crippling and sometimes deadly virus that has been eradicated in the developed world. A highly contagious disease, polio attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis, disability, and even death. Symptoms -- pain and weakness, fatigue and muscle loss -- can occur at any time 15 to 50 years after the initial illness.

One of the major breakthroughs was the invention of the iron lung, a body-covering machine that lifts the chest and fills the lungs with air. Before its invention, children with polio often died. Thanks to a vaccine program in the 1960s, polio has been eradicated, although it remains a problem in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.