MARQUETTE — Poliomyelitis is an infectious viral disease that affects the central nervous system. Often it only creates a mild illness but in serious cases it attacks the central nervous system and leads to temporary or permanent paralysis of muscles, including those involved in breathing. Historically, only about 1 in 200 infections (0.5%) lead to irreversible paralysis and among those paralyzed, 5-10% died when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

A polio outbreak began in 1938 in the Upper Peninsula and by the summer of 1940 an epidemic was underway. Then, beginning in July 1940, the U.P. experienced a polio outbreak of “unprecedented severity.” 320 cases of polio were confirmed. Although only nine patients were residents of the city of Marquette, 148 other cases from around the U.P. were transferred to Marquette, mainly St. Luke’s Hospital, for care. The effects of this outbreak were unusually severe, with the number of respiratory cases estimated to be near 10%. Thirty-three patients had respiratory complications, and 13 required respirators or iron lungs.

The 1940 report of the City Health Officer, stated “While the transportation of so many cases of polio constituted a hazard, it would have been difficult and not humane to have excluded these children from the specialized care for stricken children that this city affords. An effort was made, however, to have all cases transported under such precautions that the disease would not be spread to the public.”

Even with these precautions, there are several harrowing stories of transporting polio patients. In one case the Coast Guard brought a patient from Grand Marais to Marquette but by the time they arrived the sole iron lung was occupied. So they borrowed a fast station wagon and drove the 180 miles to St. Ignace. The ferry had just left the dock, requiring that it be called back and they made a couple of cars get off so they could fit the station wagon on the boat. From Mackinaw City, they had a State Police escort the 300 miles to Detroit with Nurse Sarah Kovamaki providing manual artificial respiration the entire way. Despite these heroic efforts, the patient did not survive.

In another case, when there wasn’t an ambulance available in Newberry, Cora Sherman chartered the local hearse and drafted a State Trooper to drive. They brought eight children, with shipping tags tied to their wrists for identification, to St. Luke’s. By the time they arrived, one of the children had died. From all over the U.P. they came, brought in by all types of conveyance and through the combined efforts of multiple agencies. One State Trooper, Henry Saam, reportedly drove for 30 consecutive hours transporting polio patients.

The reason they came to Marquette and St. Luke’s was the iron lung. An iron lung is a negative pressure ventilator. The person using the iron lung is placed into the air-tight chamber from the neck down. Pumps that control airflow periodically decrease and increase the air pressure within the chamber, and particularly, on the chest. When the pressure is below that within the lungs, the lungs expand and atmospheric pressure pushes air from outside the chamber in via the airways to keep the lungs filled; when the pressure goes above that within the lungs, the reverse occurs, and air is expelled. In this manner, the iron lung mimics the physiological action of breathing: by periodically altering intrathoracic pressure, it causes air to flow in and out of the lungs.

Early in the epidemic St. Luke’s was equipped with a single iron lung. By the end of August 1940, hospital staff knew that one wasn’t going to be enough. Growing concerned about the condition of two hospitalized children, the hospital called local businessman, Max Reynolds, to see if he could improvise a way to place two children in the one iron lung. It was decided that it wasn’t feasible to retrofit the ventilator while it was occupied. But working with hospital engineer Lowell Reynolds [no relation], who provided instructions from a pediatric magazine, and several other men- engineers, machinists, carpenters, ship-joiners, painters, sailmakers and errand boys, they set up shop in Max Reynolds’ boathouse (now the Lake Superior Theatre) and got to work building a new iron lung. As they worked, they received calls from the hospital telling them to hurry because the patients were deteriorating and manual artificial respiration had begun.

In just under four hours they managed to construct a double unit, which could hold two children, out of spare parts and scrap materials. By the time they finished, one of the children had died but a third child was already developing respiratory symptoms. The first homemade unit was operated manually, with nurses and other volunteers opening and closing a valve every few seconds around the clock. Two days later, a record player was added to motorize the valve, turning it into an automatic unit. Nine of these home-made iron lungs were made using these elements, two of which were double units. In December 1940 it was reported that Marquette had the largest grouping of respirators ever accumulated in the United States (although that record did not last long). The iron lungs were made out of salvaged materials including iron barrels and wooden crates. One of these crate lungs is on displayed in the main exhibit gallery at the MRHC.

One polio survivor recalled how quickly the disease progressed: “I had a headache like you wouldn’t believe, nothing helped. Then I went to the hospital. That evening they took a spinal tap. The next day, I asked the nurse to open the window. I thought it was just stuffy. The next day I was in an iron lung.” Another patient recalls the challenge of being bathed while in an iron lung: “They used to open the respirator [to bathe me] and when I turned blue, they’d shut it for a while. I’d pass out every time.”

Following the outbreak 27 children were sent to Bay Cliff Health Camp to convalesce over the winter. Bay Cliff continues to help the survivors, beginning in 2006 they have hosted an annual Post-Polio Wellness Retreat led by local physician Dr. Fred Maynard.