Health Sciences · Hospital for Sick Children · Hospital for Sick Children · UTSIC
An rectangular instrument consisting principally of a green-coloured case mounted above a black bellows housed in a clear cylinder. The case has two large dials, one blue and pink, one black, on its front face. On the right face is a red and green dial and three outlet ports. On the left side is a mounting point for attaching the unit to a wheeled stand that is not included with this example. On the rear of the instrument is a circular opening and an oxygen supply valve.
There is a large metal handle at the top of the opening.
The wheeled stand that was supplied with the unit is no longer present.
Accession Number: 2024.sk.1
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Metal, Plastic, Rubber.
There is a small circular blue sticker on the lower left portion of the case front.
On the lower part of the left side of the case, there is a black embossed label that reads “6”. Just below this is a stamped number: “644 063”
Dimensions (cm): Height = 54, Width = 30, Length = 31.
The anesthesia assistor/ controller was used with ventilators to administer inhaled anesthetics. Anaesthetic gases were mixed with air inside the bellows before being delivered to the patient.
R. N. Westhorpe and C. Ball note that: “The Bird Mark 4 is not a ventilator on its own, but a bag-in-bottle assembly to allow a Mark 7, 8 or 10 ventilator to be adapted for use during anaesthesia.” (Westhorpe and Ball, 2012)
This item is in good cosmetic condition. There are light abrasion, as well as a few heavier scratches, on the clear canister containing the bellows. There is a patch of white pigment on canister. There are notable circular wear marks around one of the fasteners on the top surface; The clamp knob used to fasten the unit to a wheeled stand is heavily abraded. There are patches of old adhesive, likely from tape, on the lower part of the rear face of the case.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer: Bird Corporation, Sagle, Idaho, USA.
Date of Manufacture: c. 1960-1970s
Provenance:
R N, Westhorpe and C Ball. “The Bird Ventilator.” Anaesthesia and Intensive Care 40, no. 4 (2012): 585–585.
Historical Notes: