Cough-ly speaking

I miss being a Respiratory Therapist. Even if I am not working as one,that does not mean I could no longer be practicing. In small chit chats with some friends, I happened to find out that some people's belief about a simple cough or asthma are purely myths. So I have come up with a list of what you may think are true, but are actually just myths.

1.You can catch cough if you drink using the infected person's glass.
- False. Anyone having cough or colds can spread the infection through coughing, sneezing, talking in front of you or just beside you. These bacteria that cause cough are airborne, meaning, it is transmitted through air.

2. You can catch TB by using the infected person's utensils or by drinking on his glass, or through kissing.
--Just the same as no.1. TB is an airborne disease, spread through inhaling the infected person's breath while he coughs, talks or sneezes. You may be contaminated with his saliva, but you need gallons of it in order to get TB. You can only get TB if you are in constant close contact with the infected person. Meaning, you are together 24/7.

3. You can catch pneumonia if you dry your sweat in front of the electric fan.
--Super myth. I usually hear some people saying "magkaka-pulmonya ka pag natuyuan ka ng pawis". So not true. Pneumonia is caused by a bacteria or virus, that is spread through the air when the infected person coughs, talks or sneezes. It may only trigger cough, but not catch pneumonia.

4. Asthma is contagious and is spread from person to person.
--Asthma is hereditary. If anyone in your family has asthma, chances are, you can have it too, from the day you are born. You can't just get asthma because an asthmatic person coughs beside you. It is not an infection, rather, an inflammation of the airways where the air passages become narrower making them harder to breathe.

5. Asthma can be cured.
--Up to this time, there has been no cure for asthma. It can only be controlled by medications and lifestyle changes, but it can never be cured- irreversible is the medical term for this. Once you have asthma, you have it forever. There are some cases where exercising regularly or doing any active sports helps them control their asthma.

So to further spread infection, one must use a disposable face mask such as this:


http://www.my7475.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/my747509050217.jpg

And the right way to do when coughing or sneezing is to cover your mouth with a handkerchief or towel. This will prevent the the bacteria to float in the air and infect other persons. You should not spit out anywhere. When you have cough with phlegm, and you want to spit it out, you must spit it in a tissue paper, and throw it in the trash can. By doing it the right way, there will be lesser disease, and a healthy environment for our kids.

RT memoirs

One day it struck me. While I was working, the reality that my work now is far different from the profession I graduated from got into me. A realization that came to me upon hearing a familiar sound I used to hear in the ICU. Yes, I used to hear the ventilator's alarm when the patient resists to breathe, the sound of the cardiac monitors bugging on a low oxygenated finger, the sound of the nurses taking blood pressures... All that to me was music to my ears.
As happy as I was back then, I think I would not be able to survive for years pursuing my career. Let's face it, the wage was not enough. And I know my fellow RT's would agree with me on this. That's why almost all the RT's I knew went to the UAE, for a brighter tomorrow because that is the only country where we are accepted as we are, no-board exam professionals. There is no US dream for us. Since we do not have board exam in the Philippines, nobody from the Western Part of the world would hire us. And that battle to amend our board exam is still afloat until now.
Why? People in the congress? When our work as medical professionals include caring for a critically ill patient, trying to fight for dear life. Their life is in our hands because we take care of the oxygen they are paying for to breathe. When all other courses out there that does not call for dealing with persons are given board exams, even those simple ones. Poor respiratory therapists. We are most needed in any hospital, but our population has ended because of the lack of board exam. And in some hospitals, we are already substituted by medtechs and nursing aids.
So, even though the sound I am hearing right now at work is noise to my ears, I am highly compensated hearing that.