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RESPIRATORY THERAPY Services At South-East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), respiratory therapists play an essential role in helping physicians diagnose, treat and heal patients suffering from cardiopulmonary diseases. They provide care to people not only in a hospital setting but also through our home care service, the Extra-Mural Program. Respiratory therapists at The Moncton Hospital provide 24-hour specialized care to adults, children and newborns. They play a major role in patient care by managing a person’s airway, and, if necessary, the respiratory therapist will insert an artificial airway and provide breaths to the patient. This requires a high level of skill and understanding of the complexity of the human body, as well as the sophistication of the devices used to perform these life-saving procedures. In addition to these responsibilities, respiratory therapists are also called upon to support patient transport, insert arterial blood lines, evaluate and assess a person’s need for oxygen therapy, medicated aerosol therapy, high humidity therapy and to provide education to people about their disease process in order to ensure a successful recovery. Respiratory therapists play a crucial part in diagnostic testing including procurement and analysis of arterial blood samples, spirometry (breathing tests), sampling of patient’s upper airway and assisting at bronchoscopies, in order to determine the most efficient and effective treatments. Our pulmonary function laboratory offers a full line of advanced pulmonary diagnostics to help diagnose more complex cases. At Sackville Memorial Hospital, the Respiratory Clinic focuses on promoting patients’ health through asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) education as well as smoking cessation education. This approach to preventative care has raised many peoples’ understanding of their disease process, thus saving them from the need to seek care from the emergency room and possibly being admitted to the hospital. Respiratory therapists, along with other members of the Extra-Mural Program health care team, ensure the continuum of patient care follows through to the home setting. Patients are able to return to the comfort of their homes and families sooner while still receiving the specialized care they need. Looking towards the prospects of the future, SERHA is closely affiliated with the New Brunswick Community College and with the Dalhousie University in the development of respiratory therapy students. Our respiratory therapists are truly devoted in actively promoting education and comprehensive clinical experiences to their students, thus ensuring continuation of the quality in respiratory care at the Health Authority. Mission To be a centre of excellence and provide safe, advanced, efficient services through strategies that promote wellness and quality health care.  Back
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During a pulmonary function lab, a therapist coaches a patient through a series of diagnostic tests to determine how fast and how much a person can blow. Here, a patient is being measured as to how much lung volume is left after she has totally expelled as much as possible.
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