Many doctors and surgeons have already been \u2014 or are going to be \u2014 repurposed to take care of covid-19 patients as hospitals get overwhelmed. For some of us, this will mean treating conditions that we haven\u2019t dealt with since medical school. And this might include putting breathing tubes into patients and using ventilators, which few doctors do routinely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure, many of us have broad enough experience that we can safely do the procedure. But as hospitals surge with patients experiencing coronavirus-related respiratory illness, one group of front-line workers is absolutely essential in managing these patients and running ventilators: respiratory therapists. These front-line workers are truly the unsung heroes in this battle. Not only do they run the machines, but in many instances, they also have more close contact with covid-19 patients than anyone else in the hospital \u2014 which means they\u2019re putting themselves in more danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My first encounter with a respiratory therapist was as a surgery resident managing a busy critical-care unit in the middle of the night. I was paged overhead. \u201cDr. Sathya, please report immediately to patient X\u2019s room for respiratory distress.\u201d I ran over and saw the patient was gasping for air. It was obvious the patient needed to be intubated with a breathing tube and quickly placed on a ventilator. I had done this before as a medical student but had no idea where to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when I saw the respiratory therapist, who arrived within seconds and had already prepared the equipment, drugs and ventilator needed. I thought to myself, \u201cAll I have to do is put the tube into the patient\u2019s airway.\u201d But I was sweating bullets. The respiratory therapist kept me calm and told me exactly what to do. The breathing tube slid nicely into the patient\u2019s airway. The respiratory therapist hooked the patient up to the ventilator and single-handedly worked the machine over the next week, making sure it safely pushed air into the patient\u2019s lungs and maintained proper oxygen levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was one of many times a respiratory therapist saved the day throughout my career. They serve as the glue that brings everything together when we doctors manage patients with respiratory illnesses. They\u2019re often the first to be called by nurses when a patient is having trouble breathing. They know more about oxygen, breathing support and ventilators than most others in the hospital. They work complex machines, suction secretions from the airway, take patients off the ventilators and, in many hospitals, they even position the breathing tube in the first place or teach trainees how to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we battle this pandemic, the importance of respiratory therapists has never been more apparent. Yet most people outside hospital settings don\u2019t even know the job exists. \u201cMedical shows [on TV] often show respiratory procedures but never show or mention respiratory therapists, who are critical,\u201d said Tom Kallstrom, executive director and chief executive of the American Association for Respiratory Care and a respiratory therapist himself. \u201cWe are right in patients\u2019 faces every day, suctioning up their secretions, inserting and removing breathing tubes, and much more.\u201d Being so close to the patients means a higher risk of contact with secretions, which may contain viruses, Kallstrom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n