Polio '53: A Memorial for Russell Frederick Taylor

John H. Gryfe is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon practicing in
Toronto.

In 1953, before the discovery and international use of Salk Vaccine,
Edmonton, Alberta, was devastated by a poliomyelitis epidemic. Between
July of 1953 and March of 1954, 415 patients were admited to the
city’s primary polio treatment centre, Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Forty-three of these patients died, and 25 percent required a respirator
for survival.

In the book, Taylor succinctly describes the critical lack of equipment
and expertise needed to treat the disease, and the innovative methods
used to prevent patients from suffocating during hydroelectric power
failures. He also reflects on the health risks taken and financial
sacrifices made by a united medical community committed to combating the
disease.

This slim volume is a tribute to to a physician who (his colleagues
agree) was paramount in battling polio.