Wooden model of an iron lung, with plastic infant doll and bedding enclosed, probably used to demonstrate to child patients their prospective treatment for poliomyelitis, from the Lord Mayor Treloar Orthopaedic Hospital, Alton, Hampshire, England, 1930-1950

This plastic doll in its own model iron lung was made in order to show child polio patients and their family the treatment the child would receive. An iron lung assists a patient whose breathing muscles have been paralysed by disease. Although the heyday of the iron lung was during the 1930s, 40s and 50s, some elderly polio survivors are still using them.

The teaching doll was used at the Lord Mayor Treloar Orthopaedic Hospital in Alton, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1908, the hospital was originally opened to provide specialised treatment for children with orthopaedic conditions, mainly caused by tuberculosis and, later, polio. The hospital combined treatment of the physically disabled with education and schooling.