Both respirator

In 1937, Australia faced a poliomyelitis (polio) epidemic. At the time, iron lungs provided one of the main methods of treating the "paralytic breathing failures" that were a complication of the illness. Although tank respirators had been developed earlier, the iron lung itself was still fairly new, having been designed by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw in 1928. Their design, which became known as a "Drinker's" or, due to its construction, an "iron lung", proved to be an effective means of prolonging the life of patients with poliomyelitis – although the first person to be treated in the ventilator died after two days from cardiac failure possibly related to pneumonia, the second patient recovered after spending two weeks in the machine. However in Australia, the widespread use of the Drinkers was hampered by a number of factors, most notably cost, the heavy weight of the device, and the need to ship the device to the United States for servicing, and thus there were few of the devices in the country. ==Both and Nuffield==

In 1938, Edward Both traveled to England to sell an electrocardiograph which he had invented. Responding to the call, Both hired a workshop and assembled one of his designs within 24 hours, and the Both respirator was able to quickly gain the approval of the London County Council. Subsequently, he built more of the respirators during his stay, and one was sent to the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics at the Radcliffe Infirmary where a short film was made of the device. This film was subsequently shown to William Morris (Lord Nuffield) by Robert Macintosh, the department's Professor. Nuffield was the manufacturer of the Morris motor car as well as a philanthropist. – over 1,700 Both–Nuffield respirators were distributed to hospitals. ==References==