ID#: 6529
Caption:
Photographed from the front, this photograph depicts an Emerson respirator, also known as an iron lung, which was used by polio patients whose ability to breath was paralyzed due to this crippling viral disease. This particular iron lung was donated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC), David J. Sencer Museum, by the family of polio patient Mr. Barton Hebert of Covington, Louisiana. Mr. Hebert used the device from the late 1950s, until his death in 2003. Iron lungs encase the thoracic cavity externally in an airtight chamber. The chamber is used to create a negative pressure around the thoracic cavity, thereby, causing air to rush into the lungs, thereby, equalizing intrapulmonary pressure with that exterior to the body. By 1970, J. H. Emerson Co. ceased manufacturing this apparatus, but many still depend on such mechanical ventilation systems on a daily basis.
High Resolution: Click here for hi-resolution image (18.49 MB)
Content Provider(s): CDC/ GHO/ Mary Hilpertshauser
Creation Date: 2004
Photo Credit: Jim Gathany
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Copyright Restrictions: None - This image is in the public domain and thus free of any copyright restrictions.