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SRTC Students Tour Cutting Edge Respiratory Programs at Shands Hospital

Staff Report From Tifton CEO

Thursday, March 7th, 2019

On March 4, 2019, Respiratory Care program faculty and students representing Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) toured the Advanced Neonatal and Pediatric units of Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The tour included presentations by the Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRTs) who serve on the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) team and other critical care areas in which specialized strategies such as Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist (NAVA) and Inhaled Nitric Oxide (NO) are performed. Also, information surrounding PRone and OScillation Pediatric Clinical Trial (PROSpect), a study in which Shands RRTs are engaged, was presented.      

  • ECMO is a life support machine for the heart and lungs to treat life-threatening conditions such as severe lung damage from infection, congenital defects, or shock after a massive heart attack.

  • NAVA is a mode of mechanical ventilationin which the patient's own respiratory drive is sensed from the diaphragm by an esophageal catheter which signals breaths delivered by the ventilator.

  • NO therapy is used in adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the neonate (PPHN) to reduce pulmonary artery pressure by dilating vessels in lung regions, and increases blood oxygen levels.

  • PROSpect is an international clinical research study. PROSpect researchers hope to learn more about how care for children with acute and severe respiratory failure through the utilization of prone positioning combined with high frequency lung oscillation and other mechanical ventilation strategies. Shands RRTs are actively involved in implementing the clinical trial strategies, monitoring, and documenting patient outcomes data.

Tammy A. Milller M.Ed, RRT, CPFT said that the experience was an exciting learning opportunity for representatives of SRTC. “The tour of Shands provided Respiratory care students as well as faculty with an extraordinary first-hand experience of the crucial roles served by the Registered Respiratory Therapists in one of the nations’ leading research and teaching hospitals.”