Many ventilator users have neuromuscular conditions, such as respiratory polio or post-polio syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), spinal cord injury (SCI), or congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS).
But people who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or obesity hypoventilation syndrome may also need to use assisted ventilation.
IVUN publishes (both online and in print) authoritative medical information based on interaction between ventilator users and healthcare professionals.
She did this first by taking over the editorship of Toomey Pavilion's alumni newsletter, the Toomeyville Jr. Gazette, and circulating it widely throughout the United States.
In 1960, her informal organization of volunteers was incorporated under the name Iron Lung Polio Assistance, and her newsletter grew into a magazine called the Toomey j. Gazette.
The magazine became the Rehabilitation Gazette in 1970, carrying a wide range of articles on independent living for people with physical disabilities.