Iron lung question

Factual Questions
1

I stumbled across an interesting fact: there still 2 people in the US who rely on (and live in) an iron lung.

Polio Paul, contracted polio when he was 6. He has been living in one for a whopping 71 years! The other is Martha Lillard.

Both report issues with their machines occasionally:
“Since the iron breathing machines are no longer manufactured, Paul and Martha both report having trouble finding working parts to replace parts when they break down, and health insurance no longer covers repairs.”

I’ve read that at one time there were over 1000 in use in the US alone. I would think there should be a place that stores old medical supplies, but maybe not.

FQ: What would have happened to all of the old iron lungs?

2

Scrap metal most likely. When I was doing my undergrad research in a lab at the medical school in the late 70’s, they had a storage room for junked hospital/lab equipment. It got stripped of any useful bits and the rest hauled away as metal scrap. Not much plastic in that older stuff like iron lungs.

3

I expect a few would be in museums or owned by collectors.

4

I’ve seen a couple on display at museums in the southwest. The Pioneer Museum in Flagstaff has one on display, and the excellent Luna Mimbres Museum in Demming has both an adult and a infant model.

5

With a name like that, he’s got to be intubed!

6

Seems a waste, but being as big as they are I guess it would cost too much to store them.

You wonder why Lou Gehrig didn’t see it coming either.

7

The Museum of Surgical Science here in Chicago has one, too.

8

This polio survivor is one of the last still using an iron lung ventilator : NPR Mentions four parts needing to be replaced periodically: belts, cot, motor, and collars. At least two of those are flexible elastic/rubber parts that degrade over time whether they’re being used or not. Having a stockpile of New Old Stock parts wouldn’t necessarily help present-day users, they need to be (relatively) fresh.