Respiratory Therapy

Respiratory Care Practitioners provide respiratory therapy to patients in Intensive Care Units, Emergency, Operating Rooms, Post Anaesthetic Care Rooms, and in other specialty areas.

Respiratory Therapy Services for Programs

• Assist with airway management. Therapists who are certified to do so may perform intubations and tracheostomy tube changes
  
• Respond to all cardiac and respiratory arrest, trauma and neonatal distress calls
  
• Attend intra and inter-hospital transports of critically ill patients
  
• Administer specialty aerosolized and MDI medications
  
• Act as a resource for the nurses, residents and allied health personnel in Respiratory/Airway related care
  
• Participate in teaching patients the use of Respiratory Therapy equipment for both hospital and home care use
  
• Perform diagnostic tests such as bedside spirometry, oxygen saturations, blood gas analysis, expired gas analysis, and VD/VT measurements
  
• Administer oxygen and other medical gas therapy
  
• Assist with bronchoscopies in the ICU, Wards and Outpatient areas

Intensive Care Units

• Management of all ventilated patients according to departmental ventilation protocols
  
• Integral member of the ICU team -Participate in ICU rounds, and teaching sessions related to Respiratory Therapy
• Participate in ICU related research (current projects include: High Frequency Oscillation in adults- TOOLS, Lung Open Ventilation Strategy- LOVS, Proportional Assist Ventilation- clinical evaluation, Surfactant administration in adults for respiratory Insufficiency, Oxygen threshold study)
  
• Opportunity to work with in a variety of ICU settings i.e. Medical/Surgical, Cardiac, and Neurological to learn the optimal management of these specialized patients

Operating Rooms

• Set up and assist with hemodynamic monitoring lines and monitoring equipment.
  
• Assist with or perform intubations
  
• Assist with or insert laryngeal mask airways
  
• Set up and assist with awake fiberoptic intubations
  
• Learn the use of and assist with a variety of difficult airway equipment
  
• Learn the extra skills to perform the recovery and reprocessing of blood to minimize blood loss during surgery i.e. Cell saver, Acute Normal Hypovolemia
  
• Management of all ventilated patients in PACU according to departmental ventilation protocols
  
• Assist the anaesthetists with monitoring patient's respiratory and cardiac status
  
• Be familiar with all aspects of anaesthetic administration

Hyperbaric Department

• Opportunity to receive training and work in the treatment of patients in this very specialized area. Treatment protocols include --Carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression illness, osteoradionecrosis, soft tissue radiation injury, problem wound healing
  
• Participate in research projects within the department to explore hyperbaric medicine as a treatment option for such diseases as AIDS, cerebral palsy

Assist with Department Educational & Research Programs

• Participate in teaching and evaluating Michener Institute of Applied Health Sciences students
  
• Participate in or design research projects

Qualifications as a Respiratory Therapist

• Graduate of an accredited Respiratory Therapy Program
  
• Registration with the Ontario College of Respiratory Therapists
  
• Relevant clinical experience

Qualifications as a Respiratory Technician

• Biomedical Technology Background
  
• Electromechanical and/or electronics diploma