Respiratory Therapy 101: Just Keep Breathing

People often ask a lot of general questions about respiratory therapy. I often get asked what I like about the job, what I hate about the job, or what drove me into it. At the hospital, patients (who tend to classify everybody into the category of doctor or nurse) often fail to understand exactly who I am and what I do. I like to explain it like this:

“I’m a respiratory therapist. I help people breathe.” If this is not enough, I tell them:

“Breathing is important. If you aren’t breathing, you’re not going to be doing anything else either.” That usually gets the point across. The veiled implication that if I go away, they might not breathe is often enough to make people cooperate a little more with their therapy.

Breathing is one of those absolutely essential functions that we often take for granted until we can no longer do it. Having been unable to breathe before I can state that it is the single most terrifying feeling in the entire world when you move your chest and no air goes in or out.

But the truth is that breathing goes further beyond other body functions in that we can voluntarily control it. Most body functions are essential, but it’s very difficult to control your glomerular filtration rate or the speed of your digestion. But breathing! It’s a simple matter of brain power to inhale deeply, hold your breath for a moment, and let it go.

The ability to control your breathing (to an extent) gives you a lot of power over yourself. Next time you’re stressed out, stop yourself and take in a very deep breath. Fill your lungs until they feel like they’re going to explode. Close your eyes, hold it for a moment, and slowly let it out through pursed lips. Repeat this exercise a few times, making sure to breathe deeply and slowly. I can’t make you any promises, but I bet you feel a little more relaxed. I’d gamble that your pulse is down, your blood pressure is gradually normalizing, your head is spinning a little less. In a minute or less you’ve calmed yourself down; I know that I can go from a frenzied maniac to a less frenzied maniac with this simple exercise. I use it a lot at work. It keeps me from going completely cross-eyed.

Anger management uses these same principles to tame those raging tempers. As I understand it, one of the steps to anger management is to stop, breathe, and repeat to a count of ten. Anywhere from thirty seconds to a minute have passed by the time you finish, and the forced respirations may have helped calm your body’s natural responses to anger. And for all the effort of a few simple breaths, you’ve dodged that second felony assault conviction.

For all that breathing is also one of the most immediately important body functions. When one stops breathing, especially if one does so in any place other than the safety of the ICU, it is an actual real life-or-death emergency. The cessation of breathing very quickly leads to the cessation of all other activities. After a few years in the ICU a lot of things no longer make my heart pound, but one of the things that will make me sweat and get the adrenaline moving is a respiratory arrest.

Luckily for us, most breathing problems are pretty easily repaired. The insertion of the magic tube means we can breathe for you. Impending arrests can be warded off by vigilant practitioners. Chronic conditions like COPD and CHF can be managed as well as the patients will allow them to be managed with “control” medicines and vigilance.

The bottom line is this: breathing is important. From the first screams of life to the last sigh before oblivion, breathing defines our life. When we can do it well we ignore it; when it fails we plead for it to come back. Being a respiratory therapist is more than passing nebulizers and finding exciting new ways to procure phlegm; it is assisting people with the most obviously vital function in the body.

So next time you take in a deep breath, the next time you fill your lungs with fresh air, take a moment and reflect on it. Be thankful. And as you go about your business, just remember to keep on breathing…and everything else will work itself out.