The testing of the oxygen mask of René Legendre and Maurice Nicloux, January 19, 1923

The testing of the oxygen mask of René Legendre and Maurice Nicloux, members of Hygiene Laboratory, January 19, 1923. Due to expanding industrialization, the number of deaths due to asphyxia was increasing steadily. Against this back¬drop, the Office worked to ensure that all premises exposed to the threat of such accidents as well as all first aid stations had access to artificial respiration equipment, breathing masks, and oxygen tanks. "This was the only way to dramatically decrease the number of deaths by asphyxiation", according to the magazine Research and Inventions. The metal mask designed by René Legendre and Maurice Nicloux was conceived with this end in mind. It is held in place over the victim’s nose and mouth thanks to an elastic band passing behind the head and its airtightness is ensured by a rubber rim. Intended mainly as a therapeutic device, it could also be used for protection in toxic environments, in particular when combined with the airtight and flexible tubes developed by the Office. It is therefore suggested that the Legendre-Nicloux mask can "save lives". Office national des recherches scientifiques et industrielles et des inventions.