This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Build Both respirators (low-tech 'iron lungs') to meet ventilator demand
During a polio epidemic in the 1930s, Edward Both created a low-cost (under £100), quick-to-make (under 24 hours) ventilator for people with respiratory failure. The next year, the UK built 1,700 of the devices. Some are still in use today.
The UK should mass-manufacture these simple devices.
More details
Unlike modern 'positive-pressure' ventilators, which push air into the lungs through a tube, Both respirators are a kind of iron lung. They are quicker to build and easier for untrained staff to operate than modern ventilators. Iron lungs are used in UK hospitals today.
A low-tech (even manually-operable) bellows induces low pressure around the patient, causing the patient to inhale, then high pressure, causing the patient to exhale.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
Treatment decisions, including the use of medical devices, is a clincial decision and not one for the Government or Parliament.
You could start a petition calling for the Government to fund research into the use of Both respirators, if that's something you'd like to see happen.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.