A respiratory therapist is a specialized healthcare practitioner trained in critical care and cardio-pulmonary medicine in order to work therapeutically with people who have acute critical conditions, cardiac and pulmonary disease. Respiratory therapists sometimes graduate from a college or university with a degree in respiratory therapy and have passed a national board certifying examination. The NBRC is responsible for credentialing as a CRT, or RRT,
Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a technique in which a machine temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery, maintaining the circulation of blood and oxygen to the body. The CPB pump itself is often referred to as a heart-lung machine or "the pump". Cardiopulmonary bypass pumps are operated by perfusionists. CPB is a form of extracorporeal circulation. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is generally used for longer-term treatment.
Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes providing life support, invasive monitoring techniques, resuscitation, and end-of-life care. Doctors in this specialty are often called intensive care physicians, critical care physicians, or intensivists.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life. The technology for ECMO is largely derived from cardiopulmonary bypass, which provides shorter-term support with arrested native circulation. The device used is a membrane oxygenator, also known as an artificial lung.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin coloration (cyanosis). For those who survive, a decreased quality of life is common.
Liquid breathing is a form of respiration in which a normally air-breathing organism breathes an oxygen-rich liquid (such as a perfluorocarbon), rather than breathing air, by selecting a liquid that can hold a large amount of oxygen and is capable of CO2 gas exchange.
An extracorporeal is a medical procedure which is performed outside the body. Extracorporeal devices are the artificial organs that remain outside the body while treating a patient. Extracorporeal devices are useful in hemodialysis and cardiac surgery.
Scope of practice describes the procedures, actions, and processes that a healthcare practitioner is permitted to undertake in keeping with the terms of their professional license. The scope of practice is limited to that which the law allows for specific education and experience, and specific demonstrated competency. Each jurisdiction has laws, licensing bodies, and regulations that describe requirements for education and training, and define scope of practice.
Pulmonary hemorrhage is an acute bleeding from the lung, from the upper respiratory tract and the trachea, and the pulmonary alveoli. When evident clinically, the condition is usually massive. The onset of pulmonary hemorrhage is characterized by a cough productive of blood (hemoptysis) and worsening of oxygenation leading to cyanosis. Treatment should be immediate and should include tracheal suction, oxygen, positive pressure ventilation, and correction of underlying abnormalities such as disorders of coagulation. A blood transfusion may be necessary.
Geisinger Medical Center (GMC) is a hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania that opened in 1915 as the George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital. It is the flagship hospital for the Danville-based Geisinger Health System, a primary chain of hospitals and clinics across northeastern and central Pennsylvania.
Polytrauma and multiple trauma are medical terms describing the condition of a person who has been subjected to multiple traumatic injuries, such as a serious head injury in addition to a serious burn. The term is defined via an Injury Severity Score (ISS) equal to or greater than 16. It has become a commonly applied term by US military physicians in describing the seriously injured soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The term is generic, however, and has been in use for a long time for any case involving multiple trauma.
A membrane oxygenator is a device used to add oxygen to, and remove carbon dioxide from the blood. It can be used in two principal modes: to imitate the function of the lungs in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and to oxygenate blood in longer term life support, termed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). A membrane oxygenator consists of a thin gas-permeable membrane separating the blood and gas flows in the CPB circuit; oxygen diffuses from the gas side into the blood, and carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the gas for disposal.
Diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) is a histologic term used to describe specific changes that occur to the structure of the lungs during injury or disease. Most often DAD is described in association with the early stages of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). It is important to note that DAD can be seen in situations other than ARDS (such as acute interstitial pneumonia) and that ARDS can occur without DAD.
A liquid ventilator is similar to a medical ventilator except that it should be able to ensure reliable total liquid ventilation with a breatheable liquid ·. Liquid ventilators are prototypes that may have been used for animal experimentations but experts recommend continued development of a liquid ventilator toward clinical applications.
Baricitinib, sold under the brand name Olumiant among others, is an immunomodulatory medication used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, alopecia areata, and COVID-19. It acts as an inhibitor of janus kinase (JAK), blocking the subtypes JAK1 and JAK2.
Robert (Bob) Bartlett is an American physician and medical researcher who is credited with developing a lifesaving heart-lung technology known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). He is an emeritus professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that passes the patient's blood through a machine in a process to oxygenate the blood supply. A portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device is used as an adjunct to standard CPR. A patient who is deemed to be in cardiac arrest refractory to CPR has percutaneous catheters inserted into the femoral vein and artery. Theoretically, the application of ECPR allows for the return of cerebral perfusion in a more sustainable manner than with external compressions alone. By attaching an ECMO device to a person who has acutely undergone cardiovascular collapse, practitioners can maintain end-organ perfusion whilst assessing the potential reversal of causal pathology, with the goal of improving long-term survival and neurological outcomes.
Bridge therapy is therapy intended, in transportation metaphor, to serve as a figurative bridge to another stage of therapy or health, carrying a patient past a challenging period of some kind. There are various types of bridge therapy, such as bridge to transplant, bridge to candidacy, bridge to decision, bridge to recovery, and anticoagulation bridge. Bridge therapy exists in contrast to destination therapy, which is the figurative destination rather than a bridge to something else.
Although several medications have been approved in different countries as of April 2022, not all countries have these medications. Patients with mild to moderate symptoms who are in the risk groups can take nirmatrelvir/ritonavir or remdesivir, either of which reduces the risk of serious illness or hospitalization. In the US, the Biden Administration COVID-19 action plan includes the Test to Treat initiative, where people can go to a pharmacy, take a COVID test, and immediately receive free Paxlovid if they test positive.
Theodor Kolobow was an American physician, scientist, physiologist, and inventor of medical devices, including the membrane oxygenator, common to most modern ventilators.
