A negative pressure ventilator, often referred to colloquially as an iron lung, is a form of medical ventilator that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing exceeds the person's ability.
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| Iron Lung |
One example is the man name Alexander who lives on Iron Lung.
Alexander didn’t know at that time there would be a day he wouldn’t be able to take things apart, wouldn’t be able to run around in the mud, or do other rambunctious activities the average 6-year-old could do. Paralytic polio would place him in an iron lung, a machine that forces air into his lungs with help from a pressurized system, about a week after he had checked into a Dallas hospital in 1952 and shortly after he was prematurely pronounced dead.
Now Alexander, who is in his late 60s, is one of 10 people in the world who still live in an iron lung. He contracted the deadly illness toward the end of a major United States polio outbreak, and said his survival into his 60s wouldn’t have been possible without the good hearts and grace of others like those in the Waxahachie Rotary Club. The Rotarians spent a recent Saturday morning building a ramp to help Alexander transport his 1,200-pound lung to and from the hospital more easily.
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