Respiratory Therapist History

Words: 1819
Pages: 8

The history of the respiratory profession, it’s here to stay get used to it. All too often the role of a respiratory therapist is over looked or just simply completely unknown.
In short, a Respiratory therapist is someone trained to help people who suffer from chronic respiratory disease such as asthma and COPD. They provide emergency care to patients suffering from heart attacks, shock even babies born prematurely and so much more. Most importantly a respiratory therapist is someone who helps another breathe easier. Today respiratory therapists are those who help diagnose lung disease and breathing disorders, their work involves critical thinking skills, assessment skills, and knowledge in clinical practice guidelines, and looked
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He described as ‘dephlogisticated air’ this air was the pure oxygen released from the burnt mercury. Correlation of the theory was built upon by the work of Antoine Lavoisier, who was lucky enough to get to name the gas known as oxygen, meaning former acid in 1778. Joseph Priestley along with others founded The Pneumatic Institution where they administered oxygen free of charge to out-patients. for use of asthma, palsy, dropsy, obstinate venereal complaints, scoopula or King’s Evil and other diseases. The transfer from laboratory to formulary came quickly, with the first therapeutic use of the newly named gas only eight years after Priestley’s finding. This still however was still just a trial period the group made no claim for a cure, they informed patients that their goal was the investigation of the effectiveness of oxygen in treatment of disease. Typical therapy was ‘a pint of oxygen diluted 20 to 40 times of normal air and gradually increase the dose as the symptoms direct: observing always to dilute with at least 20 times the quantity of room air’. Many of the techniques developed by the Pneumatic Institution are still used today, including the breathing tubes, mouthpieces and the mass production of gases The Institution was …show more content…
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