There are two levels of respiratory care practitioner: the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) and the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT). Respiratory therapists are required to complete either a two-year associate degree or a four-year baccalaureate degree and may take a series of examinations that lead to the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) and to the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credentials. More than 400 community colleges and universities nationwide offer respiratory care educational programs. All respiratory care practitioners must take courses in physics, mathematics, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, and biology. Respiratory care practitioners work with patients of all ages in all areas of the hospital and are qualified to perform intensive care, critical care, and neonatal procedures. Of the approximately 7,300 hospitals in this country, 5,700 have separate respiratory care departments.
We offer 24-hour in-house coverage at our 226-bed facility, while our diagnostic labs are open to schedule outpatient diagnostic testing from 7:30 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. With our state-of-the-art diagnostic pulmonary function equipment we provide the ability to perform screening spirometry and complete pulmonary function studies using body plethysmography in a warm and friendly environment.
Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) is a generic term used to indicate a battery of studies or maneuvers that may be performed using standardized equipment to measure lung function. PFTs may include simple screening spirometry, formal lung volume measurement, diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide, and arterial blood gases. These studies may collectively be referred to as a complete pulmonary function survey.
A screening spirometry test is done with a spirometer, which consists of a mouthpiece and disposable tubing connected to a machine that records the results and displays them on a graph. To perform spirometry, a person inhales deeply, closes the mouth tightly around the tube and then exhales through the tubing while measurements are taken. Some test measurements are obtained by normal breathing, and other tests require rapid and forceful inhalation and/or exhalation. The volume of air inhaled or exhaled, and the length of time each breath takes are recorded and analyzed. Sometimes a test will be repeated to get your best and maximum effort and to insure consistency. Often, the tests are repeated after a person takes a medication that opens the airways of the lungs (a bronchodilator). A spirometry test can take anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, depending on the different types of breathing tests being measured.
In body plethysmography, the patient sits inside a glass-walled airtight box about the size of a refrigerator call a plethysmograph. Body plethysmography is particularly appropriate for patients who have air spaces within the lung that do not communicate with the bronchial tree. In these individuals, gas dilution methods of measurement would give an erroneously low volume reading. As you perform various breathing exercises, the pressure in the breathing tube and in the box is recorded. You will be talked through the test by a technician who is usually sitting right next to the plethysmograph. During body plethysmography, the subject is enclosed in a chamber equipped to measure pressure, flow, or volume changes. Other tests that can be measured in the body plethysmograph include spirometry, lung volumes, airway resistance, total gas volume and diffusing capacity (DLCO).
Additional Information
American Lung Association
National Lung Health Education Program
American Sleep Apnea Association