A respiratory therapist is a medical professional empowered with the responsibility of taking care, evaluating and testing patients suffering from breathing related complications. These medical professionals practise under the able direction of expert medical doctors. Respiratory therapists ensure that all respiratory system care (from the diagnosis to the therapeutic treatment) is correctly carried out.
A major respiratory therapist job is to consult the physicians and all related medical practitioners about the actual health of the patient and modify their care plans according to their unique medical care requirements. Respiratory therapists give attention to and treat all kinds of patients; regardless whether they are infants, children, teenagers, young adults, middle aged people and aged people. These include the premature infants whose lungs are yet to be developed and people who have weak hearts, or diseased hearts, asthmatic people, people with breathing issues and those who have just had a stroke need the special attention of an expert respiratory therapist so as to prolong their lives.
Actually, research therapists are required to conduct several respiratory tests to determine what is ailing the patient. For example, they are expected to check out the patient’s breathing capabilities, abilities and oxygen concentration in their blood. They then determine the pH level of the bloods as to check its acidity or alkalinity. Apart from this, they are required to test the patient’s lung capabilities. How is this done?
Basically, the patient is provided with some respiratory instruments and requested to breathe into them. The expert respiratory therapist then records the oxygen levels of the air inhaled and exhaled by their patient. After the readings, the therapist then compares the readings by considering the patients age, sex, weight and their height. By doing so, it helps them to correctly understand the lungs’ deficiency issues in their patients to come up with a proper diagnosis.
Research respiratory therapists are also charged with the duty of analyzing the blood, so as to check both the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations of the said patient’s blood. After obtaining these records, they are then submitted to the senior respiratory doctors who go on to prescribe the appropriate respiratory treatment.
Apart from the above duties, respiratory therapists are also charged with the responsibility of removing mucus form the lungs of the ailing patients by performing the chest physiotherapy. While performing this duty, the therapist places the patient in a position that easily drains away the mucus from the lungs. How? Typically, they use a vibrating equipment to pulsate the patient’s rib cage, and at the same time tapping their chests, thus easily easing the mucus accumulation from the lungs. By doing so, the mucus buildup is fully reduced or completely removed from the lungs; hence the patient will be finding it easier to breathe normally again.