The CALHN Health Museum has been doing some spring cleaning (or more accurately late winter cleaning), of our large item store room. My colleague Jasmin and some of our amazing volunteers, have done an excellent job in organizing this area.
It has meant we have been more easily able to access some of our collection and has given us the opportunity to go back over some of our catalogued objects and provide more details. For some of these objects we have not had an ID photograph, so it has felt a bit like we are rediscovering them.
I thought it would be fun to share with you some of my favourite discoveries from this process.
Page Turning Machine
This device was a page turning machine and was used by patients at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre to read books or magazine when they did not have use of their hands. It was made by the South Christchurch Rotary Club of New Zealand.
Adult Intubation Model
The model was used in intubation training in the hospital, it contains an approximation of a realistic airway, including teeth, tongue and lungs. It appears to have belonged to various areas of the Royal Adelaide Hospital throughout its life.
Electrotherapeutic Induction Coil
Also known as a faradic Faradic battery/stimulator, this device was used in the therapeutic treatment of various ailments. It worked by creating a mild electronic shock. Manufactured by Medical Supply Association Ltd.
X-Ray Related Equipment
This item is still a bit of a work in progress, as I am yet to be able to find definitive information on what it was used for. Research so far suggests it could possibly be a Röntgen device or Van de Graaff generator. It was made by C.H.F Müller, of Hamburg, Germany.
If you have any information about this object, or any of the others, let us know in the comments.
I hope you have enjoyed this highlights package of some of the objects that we are rediscovering in our collection.
Written by Jonathan Hull, CALHN Health Museum