CUIRASS

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Royal Perth Hospital

c. 1960 - 1970

Overview

A crudely made, rigid fibreglass dome resembling a turtle shell with nylon straps, a brass metal air outlet for connecting to a pump, and a round chrome pressure gauge with a glass cover and blue and pink face.

The cuirass fitted snugly against the front of a patient's trunk from the base of the neck down to the level of the hips. The lateral edges ran down the side of the chest and abdomen.

The device was attached to a mechanically operated bellows to create negative and positive pressures, drawing air in and out of the patient's lungs and causing the chest to rise and fall with the pressure. It acted as an artificial ventilator for a patient with Poliomyelitis in a similar manner to the iron lung, but allowed the patient more mobility.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-48-OB2015.98

Material

Glass

Metal

Width

320 mm

Height or length

460 mm

Depth

380 mm

Themes

Medicine & Health

Contextual Information

A cuirass was usually used to wean a patient off the iron lung or for use when breathing was becoming an effort.This cuirass was used to ventilate a polio patient at Shenton Park Hospital, It was made at Royal Perth Hospital at the request of ICU Dr Geoffrey Clarke, author of 'A History of the Intensive Care Unit within the family of Royal Perth Hospital' for one of his patients. The cuirass and iron lung avoided the needed for a tracheostomy if the patient's swallowing mechanism was intact.

Keywords

Place made

Perth
Western Australia
Australia

Year

c. 1960 - 1970

Statement of significance

The item is of scientific, historic and social significance. The item has well established provenance. It was used by a polio patient/s at the Royal Perth Rehabilitation Hospital and is an example of equipment made in-house in response to a patient's needs. It has strong interpretive value in illustrating the history and impact of epidemics, specifically poliomyelitis, and the role of the Shenton Park annexe as a rehabilitation and infectious diseases hospital.

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Scientific or research significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Object’s condition or completeness

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

Public Location

RPH Museum Room 2114

Royal Perth Hospital Museum

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