On this episode of Our American Stories, before the polio vaccine transformed public health, poliomyelitis was one of the most feared diseases in America. Severe cases could leave patients paralyzed and unable to breathe, forcing doctors to rely on a strange new technology: the iron lung.

These massive metal chambers lined hospital wards during major polio outbreaks, rhythmically expanding and contracting to help patients breathe. Daryn Glassbrook of the Mobile Medical Museum shares the story of the iron lung, the medical innovation that helped people survive one of the twentieth century’s most frightening epidemics.

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