# Iron lungs still in use?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-lungs-still-in-use/204152>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 27, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-lungs-still-in-use/204152 "2003-09-27T12:55:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-lungs-still-in-use/204152/1 "2003-09-27T12:55:16Z")

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Yesterday I opened a new account with ConEd (electric utility, for those not familiar). After asking a few questions about what services I would like, the sales rep asked me, “Will there be any medical devices in the apartment, such as oxygen tanks, respirators, iron lungs…?”

Huh? Iron lungs are so common that my power provider is asking about them specifically? I remember seeing pictures from the 1940s or 1950s of kids suffering from polio lying inside those machines. I would have thought that any polio victims surviving so long would be supported by something less cumbersome these days. Is the ConEd question outdated, or are iron lungs truly still useful for something?

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-lungs-still-in-use/204152/2 "2003-09-27T13:07:19Z")

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Mostly outdated–but not totally:

> [@](#):
>
> Iron lungs have not been manufactured for at least a decade, and there are only 150 or fewer of them still in working condition in the United States.

http://sandiego\_polio.tripod.com/lifeandbreath.htm

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**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-lungs-still-in-use/204152/3 "2003-09-27T13:14:13Z")

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NIPPV , Nasal Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation, has largely supplanted the use of the iron lung. It’s basically a face-mask device, and you’ve probably seen it hundreds of times.

Here’s a [photo of the facemask](http://www.aic.cuhk.edu.hk/web8/facemask_non.htm).

That said, there probably are a few iron lungs still operating here and there.

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**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-lungs-still-in-use/204152/4 "2003-09-27T13:16:13Z")

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My mother-in-law is the reason St. John’s Medical Center in \<some city\> keeps their iron lung. Every time she’s admitted to the hospital there’s more and more pieces missing that they’re not able to replace.

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**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-lungs-still-in-use/204152/5 "2003-09-27T13:28:41Z")

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Very interesting! Especially the strong attachment that some folks seem to have to theirs (in **Earl’s** link). Thanks for the info, everyone.