Forrest Bird
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Dr. Forrest Bird was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts on June 9, 1921. He developed the Bird Universal Medical Respirator for acute and chronic cardiopulmonary care in 1955.
Bird was also a pilot. He performed his first solo flight at age 14, and was progressing toward major flight authorization by age 16.
Bird was an officer in the U.S. Army. He conceptualized and designed his namesake respirator as a result of an interest sparked during this time.
Development of the "Bird" unit
Bird created a prototype respirator unit which was tested on seriously ill patients with limited success. Further revision resulted in the "Bird Universal Medical Respirator" (informally called the "Bird"), a small green box that became familiar to hospital patients soon after its introduction. He subsequently made a respirator for infants called the "Baby Bird." This device was responsible for reducing the rate of breathing-related infant mortality from 70% to 10%.
Subsequent accomplishments
Bird won the Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award in 1985 and will be receiving another one in September 2005. He continues to contribute to the field of pulmonary science by participating in the development of the VDA, a ventilator that permits a patient to move from room to room. In 1995, Bird was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame; he is still working with their research teams. He was named "Inventor of the Month" by MIT in February 2001.
External links
- MIT Inventor of the Month: Forrest Bird (http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/bird.html)
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