What Will Respiratory Therapy Be Like in 2025?
What will the Respiratory Therapy profession be like in 2025? My crystal ball is broken, so your guess is as good as mine.
A colleague of mine made these predictions:
In the year 2025:
Small volume nebs will no longer be given due to increased risk of infection from air-born diseases. DPI takes the lead with MDI following.
Ventilators will have biofeedback from the patient. Patient's base line blood gas will be entered in. Through non-invasive technology, the ventilator continuously monitors and adjusts settings for target goal.
After an attempt to re-establish negative pressure ventilation, pressure ventilation becomes the standard with new modes that sense patient demands and makes changes for those demands or to meet preset goals.
The last function IPPB machine dies, and RCPs remember it as the first positive pressure ventilator.
Due to drug-resistant bacteria, universal precautions have advanced. All patient rooms are negative pressure rooms. A new affordable biohazard suit is introduced. PAPR has a new look and seal that prevents leaks improving RCP safety.
Korea discovers that the large smoking population of past years is now raising the cost of healthcare. However, stem cell research has enabled scientists in Korea to grow individualized hearts and lungs. The newly grown lungs are surprisingly affordable-more affordable than paying for chronic illness.
How's that for imagination?
What will the innovations of today look like to our colleagues in 2025? In 2008, we assembled a time capsule for Respiratory Care Week to be opened by colleagues at our facility in 2025. Here is a list of items we included in our time capsule:
- List of currently used respiratory therapy medications
- Copies of our current protocols
- Copies of our policy and procedures
- List of the Respiratory Care Week Committee members and recipients of the prestigious "Respiratory Care Practitioner of the Year Award"
- Picture and list of current RC Staff
- List of currently in use equipment
- Pictures of our current equipment
This might be a fun activity Respiratory Care Week activity for your department. Perhaps you might even include in the time capsule some equipment such as nasal cannulas, oxygen masks, nebulizers, BAN (Breath Activated Nebulizer), self-inflating bags, flow-inflation bags, endotracheal tubes, LMA (Laryngeal Mask Airway), laryngoscope and blades, disposable optical laryngoscope, ABG kits, arterial line insertion kit, incentive spirometer, PEP, acapella, peak flow meter, etc.
If you decide to create your own time capsule, I hope you are around in 15, 20 or 25 years to open it and revel with your colleagues in the things of yesteryears.