What is a Respiratory Care Professional?

We in the Respiratory Care profession have an identity crises.  Nobody outside of the hospital seems to know who we are or what we do!  This is partly our own fault, we don't advocate, we don't have any big campaigns and we don't latch on to any awareness programs, such as COPD, Asthma or lung cancer.  Though we are also a relatively new profession when compared to alot of other professions out there, like nursing or radiology; but you would think that with 30+ years in the industry people would start to recognize us a little more. 

So here is my meager attempt to inform you who and what Respiratory Care Professionals are:

Respiratory Care Professionals, better known as Respiratory Therapists or Cardiopulmonary Therapists, are health care specialists.  Some people simplify it to that we are kind of like a specialized nurse.  If you want to make it really simple I guess you could say that; but we are so much more than that.  We spend two to four years, sometimes even longer, studying two systems in the body; the heart and the lungs and how they affect the rest of the body and how the rest of the body affects them.  They learn all the diseases associated with these two organ systems, how to diagnose and treat them.  Or in the case of chronic illness, such as COPD, how to manage them.  We are in the hospital 24/7 365 days a year.  We are ready to go at a moments notice to any part of the hospital where a patient may be in distress to assist them.  We are there and work with any age group from premature neonates to the elderly patient.

We are artificial life support specialists.  They manage ventilators, can assist with management of balloon pumps (for critical heart patients), and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: basically bypassing the lungs to oxygenate the blood).  We are also trained hemodynamic (heart and blood pressures) monitoring and the ability to insert lines to watch these pressures and obtain blood samples.  Essentially we are critical care specialists.  Often times we have to take at least three national board exams before we can even start working.

We are trained in emergency care as well.  We can insert breathing tubes and perform CPR.  We are apart of every hospital Code Blue team and Rapid Response team.  A lot of ambulance, medical flight and patient transport services even hire us to be a part of their teams.

You will see us on general hospital floors as well.  We will be there to give you medicine to breathe in for your lungs or to teach you about a new diagnosis that you may have just received.  We will be there to help make sure you or your loved one is comfortable if you are in the process of passing on.

You will also see us working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with babies that can't quite breathe on their own yet and are there for high risk deliveries.

We are also in the testing part as well.  We perform pulmonary function tests to diagnose lung problems.  We do EKG's and stress tests to diagnose heart problems as well.  We also do sleep studies to find out if you have problems while you sleep and help fit you with a device to alleviate that problem.

You may also see us in other outpatient clinics teaching people about their disease processes and how to live with them and manage them to have the best quality of life.  You will see us in COPD clinics, Asthma clinics as well as Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation.

If you need oxygen or other respiratory equipment at home we will be there to drop it off and teach you how to use it.  We will be around to check on you occasionally and be on call 24/7 in case of an emergency with your home equipment.

As you can tell we are a vital part of the health care team, ready to go at a moments notice.  So why haven't more people heard of us?  I don't know.  We are kind of the unsung heroes of the hospital.  Most of us are okay with being the unsung hero, all we want in return for what we do is just respect and appreciation.

If you want more information you can go to the American Association for Respiratory Care.  You can also watch this amazing video about who and what Respiratory Care Professionals are.

I hope this answers your questions.  If you think you might want to be a Respiratory Care Professional or have questions about it, just contact your local friendly Respiratory Therapist.  If they are like most, they would love to sit down and talk to you about what it is that they do.

David