Respiratory care
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Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is under-recognized. We hypothesized that respiratory therapists (RTs) could help improve the detection rate of individuals with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) and Alpha-1 Foundation recently collaborated to create an online alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency training program for RTs. This study aimed to determine (1) the rate of RT enrollment in the training program, (2) the rates of detecting individuals with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency referred for testing by RTs who took the online course ("trained RTs"), and (3) the genotype distribution of referred individuals found to have alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. ⋯ A program to educate RTs about alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency was associated with referral of patients for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency testing and high rates of detecting individuals with severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
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In the absence of endotracheal intubation, the manual bag-valve-mask (BVM) is the most frequently used ventilation technique during resuscitation. The efficiency of other devices has been poorly studied. The bench-test study described here was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an automatic, manually triggered system, and to compare it with manual BVM ventilation. ⋯ The use of an automatic manually triggered device may improve ventilation efficiency and decrease the risk of pulmonary overdistention, while decreasing the ventilation rate.
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Emergency airway management represents an event with high acuity but unpredictable frequency and therefore presents a challenge for adequate staffing. Given circadian and seasonal variations, we hypothesized that the majority of emergency airway events happen after normal working hours and during the winter months. ⋯ Emergency airway service utilization is highest during daytime hours, with seasonal variations composed of higher consults in the winter and lower consults in the summer.
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In patients with COPD, we investigated the effect of the fat-free mass (FFM) on maximal exercise capacity and the relationship with changes in operational lung volumes during exercise. ⋯ This study shows that FFM depletion plays a part in the reduction of exercise capacity in COPD patients, regardless of dynamic hyperinflation, and is strictly associated with poor cardiovascular response to exercise and to leg fatigue, but not with dyspnea.
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Respiratory care practice includes neonatal respiratory care, pulmonary function testing, and pulmonary rehabilitation. The purpose of this paper is to review the recent literature related to these topics in a manner that is most likely to have interest to the readers of Respiratory Care.