A request by Kamloops West Rotary for the school district to educate parents and students about the dangers of polio could hit a logistical snag, the chairman of the school board said Tuesday.

“I don’t know how viable that is,” said Ken Christian.

Iris Davies and Jane Epp of Kamloops West Rotary appealed to school trustees at meeting Monday night to consider busing students to a yet-to-be-confirmed information session in October featuring polio survivors and an iron lung.

An iron lung is a form of medical ventilator that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost.

Davies said arrangements have been made to bring an iron lung to Kamloops from Oct. 1 to Oct. 9. The machine will be featured in an educational series about polio that will tour the city.

She said it’s imperative parents understand the danger polio still poses to children.

“They need to know what the risks are about not taking the (polio) vaccine,” said Davies.

An awareness concert is planned for the Sagebrush Theatre in early October and the iron lung will be on display there, she said. That would be an opportunity for schools to view the device.

Davies said the iron lung is cumbersome and it would be difficult to take it from school to school.

School district administrators are considering the request, but it’s tough to give approval without exact dates and locations, said Christian.

“There are a lot of logistical things that go into that,” he said, adding an answer will be provided before the end of September.

Polio is a contagious disease that was virtually eliminated from most of the western hemisphere in the second half of the 20th century. Epidemics have left thousands of children and adults paralysed.