'The Autumn Ghost' tells of innovation that saved lives during polio epidemic

“The iron lung, which came in in 1928, was really revolutionary,” says critical care physician Dr. Hannah Wunsch. “In fact, it was the first time you had a machine that could support people's breathing.”

Though revolutionary, it still had a host of setbacks. Patients often felt trapped in a huge metal casket, a major downside to the iron lung. Plus, doctors and nurses had trouble treating patients because they had to stay encapsulated in the machine to create negative pressure that would suck air into the lungs. Additionally, for patients with bulbar polio, the mortality rate still hovered around 90% even when using the iron lung.

To address these shortcomings, Dr. Bjørn Aage Ibsen started working to create a positive pressure ventilator in 1953. The technology would effectively push air into the lungs. And, the technology was much smaller and less invasive than the iron lung. The mortality rate of the disease reduced from 90% to 20%.

“[Positive pressure] was used in the operating room by anesthesiologists when they gave someone anesthesia and paralyzed them for surgery,” Wunsch says. “For short periods of time, they would blow air into the lungs to keep someone breathing.”

Ventilator technology has been expanded since, but it remains similar to this day. And critical care, like that provided to polio patients, has become a focal point of medicine amid the COVID-19 pandemic.