People: Respiratory Therapists
The extraordinary unsung heroes of the Covid world…
Air hungry…
I believe that the Respiratory Therapist deserves a few minutes of reflection to speak to their story.
Respiratory Therapists (RRT’s) are one of many unsung heroes in the medical world, essentially unrecognized and even invisible to the outside world. They are a group of highly skilled clinicians whose work focuses on the management, maintenance and support of the changing breathing demands for all patients, of all ages, who struggle to breathe normally and/or independently due to a myriad of challenges. They were one of the many resilient shinning stars of the Covid years.
The COVID years a time of great fear, stress, anxiety, uncertainty and increasing demands for acute medical intervention led to increasing demands for the Respiratory Therapist who provided highly specialized and lifesaving pulmonary treatment and management. Respiratory Therapists were mostly unknown to those outside of the medical setting, even though they were omni-present wotking laboriously side by side with a mixed team of Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Doctors, Hospitalists, Critical Care Specialists and Surgeons. A highly skilled team working in collaboration with one another, integrating their specialized knowledge to provide positive and as presented life saving pulmonary outcomes.
Respiratory Therapists as pulmonary clinical specialists have honed skills in the treatment and as is often the case, complex management of all things pulmonary. They are omni-present in the health care setting, an integral member of clinical teams working collaboratively, with Physician oversight to manage, triage, monitor and report the levels of needed intervention for all breathing issues. In the larger tertiary medical centers RRT’s may choose to work in multidisciplinary teams delivering directed specialist care in one discipline such as pediatrics or neonatology. In the smaller community hospitals they provide care to all disciplines, wherever needed, which at times may include patient transport to the larger more complex and specialized medical centers.
The need for the Respiratory Therapists intervention is always pulmonary related. It can include management and treatment of a new developing pulmonary infection or chronic disease process which may include, but is not limited to: COVID related infections; chronic pulmonary disease that may be worsening (like Asthma, COPD/Emphysema); a premature birth with critically undeveloped lung function; and traumas brought on by unforeseen accidents of nature and self. If there is a critical pulmonary injury, a problematic birth, a neonatal emergency, an asthmatic starving for air, a COPD/emphysema patient tiring, exhausted and ready to collapse, you will find a Respiratory Therapist at their bedside. They are present in the ER following a suicidal attempt, overdose, trauma and all scenarios that may compromise adequate breathing function requiring breathing support. You will find them in the ICU’s, OR’s, pediatric units, neonatal intensive care nurseries, in adult and geriatric care units, oncology units, out-patient rehabilitation, in Pulmonary Function Testing labs, on ECMO teams, on lung transplant teams, on hemodynamic teams, on patient trauma transport teams (in helicopters and on ambulances), in the home care setting, in the Pulmonologist office and in educational institutions. Even with all that said, I may have missed a venue or two where the Respiratory Therapists are called upon for pulmonary support, the core of their clinical practice. Unfortunately, outside of the medical setting, they still remain mostly unrecognized for their knowledge, experience, expertise, and overall worth.
Thinking back to the crazy Covid reality that we all inhabited only a few years ago, there were many who required hospitalization and critical intervention due to rapid and unanticipated viral downward spirals leading to decreasing oxygenation, hypoxemia and pulmonary emergencies. In these scenarios Respiratory Therapists and the entire medical team worked together to make decisions in providing life saving breathing support via both non-mechanical and mechanical ventilation. These intensive supportive strategies were tantamount to patient survival during the COVID pandemic. The Respiratory Therapist was one of the critical drivers of this management as well as follow up care. Yet how often did you hear of the Respiratory Therapist as one of the front line clinicians providing care? How often, if at all, did we hear of them in the news, in the papers, on the Internet, on the TV, radio, or during the many Covid updates by the State and Government?
Today Respiratory Therapists continue to work in this highly specialized arena of pulmonary medicine. They love their work, and are dedicated to contribute and labor for positive outcomes, improved functioning and life. It is as simple as that. They are not there for the money, because there is poor monetary compensation when compared to their colleagues. They are not there for the glory, because obviously that does not currently exist, as only a few outside of the medical setting know who they are and what they do. They are not there for the perks, for no traditional perks exist in the not-for-profit work world. I think it would be fair to say that their perks are deeply embedded in the pure joy of realizing good outcomes, for their patients, simply and pure. They are present working for us, all of us, young and old alike, doing their work unsung.
This is a case of the extraordinary and beautifully ordinary unsung in our world today.
