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| This is a foot pump nebulizer I found at an online store. It's still on sale for $10. |
Here is her her comment:
"My very first portable nebuliser was a totally useless foot pump affair! I couldn't do it myself because of the effort it took, and because it was foot pump powered it was impossible to get a constant and steady stream with anyone else doing it, plus they would tire quickly. Ixve no idea how it ever came to be on the market, such was it's uselessness, but it was my father's idea of a cost-cutting purchase without any appreciation of what it needed to be used for. I'm certain it's not what the doctor had in mind when they said we needed to get me a home nebuliser. That was back in the late 1980s, maybe 1988 or so."I do know that there were foot pump nebulizers back in the 19th century. But this was back when there was no electricity. Between 1900 and 1930 there were squeeze bulb operated nebulizers. These were usually used to deliver a low dose of epinephrine. So, it was surprising to see that these types of nebs were sold in the 1980s.
Interestingly, I did a Google search for "foot pump nebulizer, 1980s" and one popped up in the search. A sketchy site I wouldn't recommend clicking on. But, I wonder if those would be good for 3rd world countries where there's no power and no access to inhalers.
The problem with the rubber squeeze bulb nebulziers is they were hard to operate. You could squeeze and squeeze and you only got a tiny bit of mist. I imagine the foot nebulizers may have been a step up from that. Still, they weren't very helpful.
I know this because I got a rubber bulb to attach to the bottom of my first nebulizer. This was in 1985. Sometimes I would play with this. I'd attach it to the bottom of the cup and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
As noted above, just a minor mist was ejected. I couldn't imagine using this to end an asthma attack. It would take forever. But, if it's all you had, then maybe you would make do.
