Medical devices have come a long way – this much we know. But some people are still embracing just how far we’ve come, for the sake of history.
A story out of Kent, Washington, features Dr. Mickey Eisenberg, the director of King County Medic One/EMS. He, along with his brother, have been collecting old medical devices for decades.
According to KING 5 News, Eisenberg describes his collection as, “Unique and bizarre.”
As the story reports:
Some of the pieces are medical marvels that turned out to not be so marvelous. The oldest piece, an electrotherapy device, dates back to 1850. The early pieces are now deemed medical quackery, like a chromo therapy machine and a violent ray instrument on display.
One of the reasons the location for this collection is unique and someone ironic is because King County is statistically the best place to have a heart attack (odd phrasing, yes). Resuscitation rates are reportedly at 62 percent.
Medical devices come and go and continue to evolve. It’s interesting, somewhat nostalgic and could be potentially valuable to current device developers to take a look back.
