Respiratory Care

Welcome to Respiratory Care at BMH
Making a difference one breath at a time!

Being unable to catch your breath can be scary! The respiratory care practitioners at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital can help. In consultation with your physician, they provide life-saving technology and medications to ease your work of breathing. They will also teach you how to help prevent this from happening again!

The BMH respiratory care practitioners are licensed practitioners who are registered by the National Board for Respiratory Care. They are trained and certified in Advanced Adult and Pediatric Life Support as well as neonatal resuscitation. These “life support specialists” are on the hospital’s Code Blue and Rapid Response teams. All of the Respiratory Care staff are multi-skilled and are also trained to perform cardiology procedures.

In addition to responding to emergencies and administering medications, the Respiratory Care staff also provides pulmonary function tests (more information about these BMH breathing tests). These measure the severity of lung disease and the response to medication, all aimed at improving your breathing.

A Methacholine or Bronchial Provocation (more information on the asthma test) is also available to assist in the diagnosis of asthma in children and adults. An arterial blood sample is often obtained to measure the oxygen level in the blood to help determine the need for home oxygen. To schedule an appointment call 802-251-3145.

Helping people to quit smoking is a focus in the BMH Respiratory Care Department.  Pam Nadeau, RRT, and Bob St.Pierre, RRT, are trained tobacco-cessation specialists. Tobacco treatment programs are held throughout the year and have helped many smokers quit. To learn more about the BMH Tobacco Treatment Program, call 802-251-8456, or go to the BMH website at www.bmhvt.org/events/cessation.shtml.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital also has a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Department which helps teach those with lung disease how to live and breathe. (More information about the BMH Pulmonary Rehab Department.)