When it comes to the lungs, there’s a group of therapists at Covenant who work hard to make sure your lung health is a priority.
Dawn Robinson is the Director of Respiratory Care Services at Covenant Health. October 22 to 28 is Respiratory Care Week, highlighting the work respiratory therapists do.
She explained exactly what respiratory therapists are and the role they play in healthcare.
“If it’s got something to do with your lungs, we’re going to be there taking care of you,” Robinson said.
Respiratory therapists take care of patients in all different areas, across all ages, and for a variety of reasons.
Robinson said they deal with patients who have asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, and even people who have traumatic injuries.
“We do lots of things. We assess patients, listen to their chests, evaluate their vital signs and heartbeat,” she said. “We give breathing treatments, we do various respiratory interventions to improve lung function in our patients. We draw blood to analyze it and help diagnose different disorders with oxygenation in the blood.”
If you’re looking to help keep your lungs healthy, Robinson said she’s got some advice.
“I’m a big advocate of not smoking, that’s probably the number one thing,” she said.
Her other advice included taking care of your lung health and your overall health.
“Your weight can really impact your breathing, so the heavier you are the more difficulty you can have breathing,” Robinson said.
Robinson said these therapists play a key role when it comes to your respiratory care.
“[Breathing’s] part of our autonomic system. you don’t have to think about it, you don’t have to do anything about it, you just do it,” she said. “But when you can’t, you’re going to have a respiratory care therapist as well as a physician and a nurse, you’re going to have a great healthcare team looking after you.”
