While many people found themselves as frontline workers during the pandemic, no one has been closer to the frontline as Respiratory Therapists (RTs).
RTs are medical professionals who deal with pulmonary (lung) issues and cardiovascular health. They’re trained to administer respiratory therapy equipment like ventilators, treat a variety of diseases affecting cardiovascular system and the lungs and much more.
Given the respiratory and cardiovascular nature of COVID-19, RTs, with their area of expertise and unique skill sets, found themselves right at the forefront of the grueling two-year long and counting fight against covid.
THE EQUITY spoke to Ali Lewis, a member of the . . .
small respiratory therapy team at the Pontiac Hospital, about what it’s like being an RT, especially during the pandemic.
Lewis, who has lived in Shawville most of her life, graduated from the Algonquin College respiratory therapy program in 2009 and then soon after got a job in her hometown hospital. While her job is busy and stressful at the best of times, just over a decade into her career she faced one of the biggest health crises in living memory.
“It’s been the craziest experience ever dealing with being in a pandemic in healthcare,” said Lewis. “It was mentally and physically exhausting, and it’s scary. I’ve never been so scared.”
“Covid caused RTs to be recognized because it’s an airborne virus,” said Lewis.
RTs were one of the groups of healthcare professionals expected by the healthcare system to become point people on treating covid, according to Lewis.
“We had seminars and teachings on protocols; it was just like non-stop trying to figure out how we are going to treat this disease,” she said.
Lewis noted that the early days were overwhelming as the healthcare system came under more and more stress, even though Pontiac Hospital was far away from the main epicentres of the virus.
“There were bad results, we were still learning a lot about it,” she said. “You’d have two weeks when you’re hit hard and then it kind of trickled down again.”
Despite the hardship, Lewis found the sense of solidarity in the early days of the pandemic as something that encouraged her and other healthcare professionals.
“Communities were sending us letters and writing stuff on Facebook, leaving things at the hospital like little rocks painted-[saying things] like, ‘We all help each other’ and ‘Let’s fight this’. People sent us food. It was nice. It felt good to be appreciated.”
She also knew the Pontiac Hospital wasn’t alone in the struggle.
“You just had to think every hospital was struggling like us, you don’t feel like you’re the only one,” she said. “In healthcare, you have to realize it’s always a battle. It’s just a fight. You’re just fighting a battle every day.”
At the current stage of the pandemic, Lewis feels more relaxed about the healthcare systems ability to handle covid, but this doesn’t change her pre-existing responsibilities as an RT that have nothing to do with covid which keep her and her team incredibly busy.
RTs are trained to work with pharmacology, like for example, helping people with inhalers or other drugs.
They also perform tasks like performing pulmonary function tests, do home visits to help people who need to be on oxygen and treat babies.
RTs are also very important components in the operating room when patients are under anesthesia, as they are crucial to ensuring that no problems occur when someone is put under, according to Lewis.
Despite the huge stress and frustration that come with the job, Lewis still sees that she is making a positive impact that few others get to experince.
“When I was in homecare, a patient called me because me and his respirologist had changed his inhalers, and he was like, ‘I can’t believe how much better I feel since we’ve changed this to that and I can breathe better and I just wanted to thank you’,” she said. “It’s so rewarding, you know.”
Beyond her work at the hospital, Lewis very passionate about her love of Shawville and the Pontiac. She is involved in sports like baseball, volleyball, curling, she bikes on the PPJ and hikes the various trails of the area.
She hopes that the Pontiac thrives both to strengthen the community and help attract more staff at the hospital.
“It’s so important to have things in place that encourage people to want to stay,” said Lewis. She wants to see more apartments, clubs and activities to attract people and allow them to live and work here.
When asked what she thinks can be done to improve people in the Pontiac, she said, “Quit smoking. Quit putting stuff in your lungs, because it’s the only set of lungs you’re going to get.” She is also hopeful that more people choose to go into the healthcare profession.
Rounding back to the healthcare as-a-war-analogy she said, “It’s a war and we need troops.”
