When we introduced rtNOW to the world in 2016, the concept of telehealth (let alone telerespiratory care) was foreign to many clinicians.  It goes without saying that Covid-19 has accelerated telehealth adoption dramatically. As the first RT-owned telerespiratory solution in the world, we were positioned during the pandemic to capture first-hand accounts of what respiratory care looks like to our rtNOW agents during the public health crisis.  It is with great joy that we present to you three testimonials from our telerespiratory therapists on how they positively affected the healthcare outcomes of their patients.  These are taken, with only minor edits, directly from our rtNOW agents.

Ann

I just very recently had an encounter with a patient who had come in through one of our facilities emergency rooms and he was in a great deal of distress and putting the nurses into a great deal of distress as well.  It gave me an opportunity to connect with the doctor on the case, and it was enough to interact with them and for me to see very quickly that this gentleman was going to deteriorate faster than they were going to be able to provide him non-invasive ventilation (which was what they were hoping for).  They forgot about me for a second but I piped back up and came back in as they were struggling to get this gentleman situated. I was able to connect with the doctor at that point and expressed that I felt the patient was in too much distress and he really required immediate intubation.   That was the choice that they made.  It just so happened I had to reconnect with them… and it turns out that was the way to go.  That gentleman was stable enough that they were then able to ship him to a larger care facility that was able to take care of him.   

Chris

The other day I helped ween a Covid patient back down to room air, and they were on their way out the door home.  Just a week or week and a half earlier I had to help the same patient with life-saving ventilator ventilation support. 

Angela

This morning I received a call from (hospital name redacted) from a frantic MD and RN with a patient SOB and a CO2 greater than 100 on abg. Pt was also COVID positive. Patient Came in after satting in the 70s all night according to patient. We intubated, x-rayed, mechanically vented, and sedated until air flight arrived 18 minutes later to transfer to (city name redacted).  Was a great 40 minute call.