The Iron Lung: How a 'Coffin on Legs' Saved Thousands of Polio Victims
How Did a ‘Coffin on Legs’ Become the Lifeline for Polio Victims?
The iron lung was a large metal cabinet respirator that used External Negative Pressure Ventilation to save thousands of polio victims whose chest muscles were paralyzed. First used at Boston Children’s Hospital in 1928 to save an eight-year-old girl, by 1939 around 1,000 iron lungs operated in the USA, providing the rhythmic “whoosh” sound that meant life for patients who couldn’t breathe on their own.