Iron Lung Death - Dianne Odell - What is an iron lung

A 61 year old women has tragically died in an Iron Lung after the power went out. Dianne Odell, 61 years old, had been confined to the 7 and a half foot machine since she was diagnosed with polio 58 years ago at the age of 3.

The family which lives in Jackson Tennessee could not get the backup generator working after storms apparently knocked power out for the surrounding area. Odell who had been confined to the iron lung, and had been cared for by her brother-in-law and other family members could not overcome the outage since she has been weaker over the last several weeks. Iron lungs were first used to sustain life in 1928, and were largely replaced by positive-pressure airway ventilators in the late 1950s. A spinal deformity from the polio made it impossible for Odell to wear a more modern, portable breathing apparatus, so she continued to use the older machine. It is not exactly known how many polio survivors still use these iron lungs, but Odell was believed to have used it for longer than most. Below is an image of such a machine: