DAYTON, Ohio — According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cases of the flu, COVID-19, and other illnesses like Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, remain elevated throughout parts of the country.

Many of these viruses can be especially dangerous to young children and older adults and may require hospitalization.

Along with doctors and nurses, there is another group of healthcare heroes working behind the scenes to treat patients.

What You Need To Know

  • Respiratory therapists provide a vital service for patients with some of the most common illnesses like the flu, COVID-19, and RSV

  • Career demand has spiked over recent years

  • Sinclair Community College offers a robust 2-year program to prepare students

Students at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, are hard at work learning the ins and outs of respiratory therapy.

Ann Davis is an adjunct faculty member and devoted her career to working with the neonatal pediatric population.

“I think that COVID-19 really brought to the forefront what a frontline direct bedside care provider the respiratory care practitioner is,” she said.

“Respiratory was just such a major help with COVID, so then I started looking into it and doing research on it made me really open my eyes and see what a big help that they were,” said student Keila Wooten.

Because of the pandemic and as RSV and other respiratory illnesses come to the forefront, especially in pediatrics, the demand for this type of work is growing.

“We used to have ‘RSV season’. That is really no longer the case. We are starting to see in the past few years RSV cropping up in the middle of Summer,” Davis said.

Andi Tussing is in the last semester and clinical rotations working with kids helped decide a focus.

Tussing worked with babies with serious respiratory conditions up close.

“It’s definitely scary. The parents are very scared a lot of the times and we get to come in there and kind of decrease their fear a little bit by being a new face, a friendly face, and giving the treatments and it does help the families a lot to see their babies breathing a little easier,” Tussing said.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for respiratory therapists is expected to grow by 13% by 2032.

“Respiratory therapists are absolutely vital to the wellness and well-being of the pediatric population. They know the uniqueness of a child or a baby because we say here in class, ‘babies and kids are not little adults’,” Davis said.

“It gives me a lot of joy. It’s very fulfilling,” Tussing said.

Sinclair College’s respiratory care program takes two years to complete.

In 2021, the school expanded the program to increase the number of students by 21%.

The median wage for respiratory therapists in Ohio is about $70,000.