Although the Pulmotor is not a rebreather, the Pulmotor was a very important apparatus used in the mining industry.
It contributed greatly to the development of breathing apparatus in general.
Resuscitators began in 1907 when Johann Heinrich Dräger, owner of the Drägerwerk AG Company, produced the “Pulmotor” Resuscitator.
The Pulmotor was the first artificial respiration device that could automatically deliver gas or air at specific volumes.
It was build to resuscitate victims of mine disasters and was also used in ambulances over the world to help victims of smoke inhalation, drowning and electric shock.
It is highly recommended to read the thetis of Dr. Niggebrügge who wrote Die Geschichte der Beatmung
– Analyse und Neubewertung am Beispiel der Geschichte des „Pulmotor“ Notfallbeatmungs- und Wiederbelebungsgeräts der Lübecker Drägerwerke
His work can be found in the library of the university Lübeck under filename: ediss1082.pdf
Courtesy: Dräger Lübeck
Therebreathersite was founded by Jan Willem Bech in 1999. After a diving career of many years, he decided to start technical diving in 1999. He immediately noticed that at that time there was almost no website that contained the history of closed breathing systems. The start for the website led to a huge collection that offered about 1,300 pages of information until 2019. In 2019, a fresh start was made with the website now freely available online for everyone. Therebreathersite is a source of information for divers, researchers, technicians and students. I hope you enjoy browsing the content!