9781422279939

1

What Do Respiratory Therapists Do? T ake a deep breath. Feel the air rushing into your lungs, filling you with energy and life. Now imagine not being able to do that. According to the scientists, the average human takes between 17,280 and 23,040 breaths a day, or more than 6.3 million breaths per year. One of the most basic human functions, breathing delivers oxygen to every organ in the body while simultaneously removing harmful by- products, such as carbon dioxide, from the system. We may not even notice that we are breathing for the majority of our lives, but when something begins to interfere with the way we breathe, it quickly becomes the only thing we can think about. How Respiratory Therapists Help Often confused with nurses, respiratory therapists (RTs) are health care specialists who focus exclusively on helping

7