respiratory therapist Archives - Technology for Living

Respiratory support has improved drastically over the last few generations. It has been a remarkable journey considering 60 years ago a patient requiring respiratory support had no alternative but to be confined to an Iron Lung, a negative pressure stationary metal chamber. At the office of BCITS, we happen to have one of these relics! Check it out on our history page here in the historical gallery. Or drop by for a visit.

The Polio Epidemic of the early 20^th century became “the most feared disease of childhood and adolescence”. Those were frightening time. Poliomyelitis was highly infectious. If you were lucky to survive, you would be left with lifelong disabilities. One big complication from Polio is the eventual paralysis of the breathing muscles. There are pictures of rows of Iron Lungs and patients would be confined to these institutions.

These Irons lungs were big and bulky. They worked by having the patient in an airtight space and manipulating the pressures around the chest. People were living their lives locked inside these metal shells. This was clearly not sustainable and more funding and research went towards unlocking positive pressure ventilation.

Currently, there are many brands of ventilators available. Despite all the different models and shiny cases, positive pressure is the form of delivery they have in common. The air and pressure is generated externally with a turbine and pushed to the patient. Modern day home ventilators are much more versatile and increasingly smaller and therefore more portable, thanks to the development of microprocessors.

Click on the Follow Button at the bottom of the screen to get notified when part 2 in this series becomes available. This is brought to you by Patrick Cho, Respiratory Therapist with the PROP (Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program) department.

It is always interesting to compare respiratory services between different provinces. So when Esther Khor and Lily Cheung, both respiratory therapists (RTs) with PROP (Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program), were recently invited to visit a Home Ventilation Program in Ottawa, CANVent (Canadian Alternatives in Noninvasive Ventilation), they were very much looking forward to the opportunity.

What is unique about the CANVent Program is its central role within the community in identifying individuals who are at risk and preventing serious or life-threatening complications such as respiratory failure. Through its work, the Program has raised the level of awareness among specialists that individuals with neuromuscular diseases, whether in hospital or the community, are at high risk for respiratory complications and that education and noninvasive airway management (NIVAM) strategies may significantly reduce or eliminate this risk.

The CANVent Program resides in the Ottawa Hospital, and patients are seen here for their breathing tests and assessments. One patient Esther & Lily met, lamented on the hourly drive to the hospital, as it must be challenging during the winter months. However, the care and smiles from the respiratory therapists and physicians definitely made up for it! Mary and Kathy were the RTs the PROP team shadowed that day and who shared their knowledge graciously. Esther and Lily are looking forward to using what they have learned at CANVent to better care for their PROP clients in BC!

You can find more information at CANVent.

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Tag Archive for: respiratory therapist

Development of respirators

A knowledge exchange trip to Ottawa’s CANVent Program