Iron Lung Respirators and the March of Dimes
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| Iron Lung Respirator |
From 1939 to 1961, iron lung respirators were critically important in the March of Dimes program to combat poliomyelitis. Because polio often paralyzed muscles, and sometimes even respiratory muscles, the iron lung was developed to help individuals to breathe when these muscles were paralyzed or weakened. In the 1950s, the March of Dimes purchased iron lungs and distributed them to hospital respiratory centers via regional equipment pools. It established regional respiratory centers throughout the United States to care for polio respiratory cases. It also developed the Military Air Transport System (MATS) with the U.S. Air Force to ship iron lungs and patients by air throughout the U.S. In 1953, the March of Dimes owned 635 iron lungs, 626 chest respirators, and 505 rocking beds for distribution to local communities in polio epidemics. During America’s worst polio epidemics from 1948 to 1953, the March of Dimes spent over $2,588,500 to purchase, transport, repair, and store iron lungs. The iron lung respirator now symbolizes an extreme medical predicament faced by some polio sufferers and the extraordinary measures taken by the March of Dimes to save the lives of those most in need.
Source: March of Dimes Archives, Medical Program Records, 1937-1995
March 8, 2004 / David Rose / March of Dimes Archives
