Specialty Hub
Emergency Respiratory Care
When minutes matter. These are the respiratory emergencies that put an RT at the head of the bed — failing lungs, the code, the poisoned blood, the closing airway, and the chest that won’t move air. Recognize each one fast, reach for the right intervention, and know the numbers cold.
Guides
Failing lungs, the code, the poisoned blood, and the closing airway.
Acute Respiratory Failure
When the lungs can no longer oxygenate or ventilate - the difference between Type I (hypoxemic) and Type II (hypercapnic) failure, what causes each, how to recognize impending failure, and the escalation ladder from oxygen to HFNC to NIV to intubation.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Airway & Ventilation
The respiratory therapist in the adult code - high-quality CPR, the airway and ventilation sequence, the right ventilation rates with and without an advanced airway, how capnography confirms the tube and tracks CPR quality and ROSC, and why hyperventilation kills.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning & Smoke Inhalation
The poisoning a pulse oximeter cannot see - how carbon monoxide binds hemoglobin and left-shifts the curve, why SpO₂ reads falsely normal, the role of co-oximetry and 100% oxygen, and the airway threat of smoke inhalation and inhalation injury.
Tension Pneumothorax Recognition & Management
A breath-by-breath emergency - how air trapped under pressure collapses the lung and shifts the mediastinum, the signs that separate a simple from a tension pneumothorax, why it is a clinical (not radiographic) diagnosis, and the needle decompression and chest tube that fix it.
Anaphylaxis & Acute Airway Emergencies
When the airway is closing - how to recognize anaphylaxis fast, why intramuscular epinephrine is the immediate first-line drug, the adjuncts (oxygen, nebulized epinephrine, bronchodilators, antihistamines, steroids), and the airway plan when angioedema threatens to obstruct.
Interactive Practice
Practice Tools
Read the emergency gas, grade the oxygenation defect, and quantify the ventilation behind every crashing patient.
Clinical References
The code-blue numbers and the emergency drug table, ready to scan.
Code Blue: The RT's Role
A bedside reference for the respiratory therapist in an adult cardiac arrest - high-quality CPR metrics, compression-to-ventilation ratios with and without an advanced airway, the capnography targets that track CPR quality and ROSC, and the reversible causes (the H's and T's).
Respiratory Emergency Medications
The drugs an RT administers or assists with in a respiratory emergency - intramuscular epinephrine for anaphylaxis, nebulized epinephrine for airway edema, bronchodilators and magnesium for severe bronchospasm, naloxone for opioid-induced hypoventilation, and the inhaled and code agents to know - with their indication and key cautions.
Quick Charts
The two types of failure and the arrest rhythms, side by side.
Type I vs Type II Respiratory Failure
Hypoxemic and hypercapnic respiratory failure side by side - the defining blood gas, the underlying mechanism, the typical causes, the A-a gradient, and the support that fits each - so the type of failure points straight to the intervention.
Cardiac Arrest Rhythms
The four cardiac arrest rhythms grouped by what actually changes management - shockable (VF and pulseless VT) versus non-shockable (PEA and asystole) - with the rhythm description, whether to defibrillate, and the drug and priority for each.
Suggested Learning Path
From recognizing failure to running the code and managing the airway threats.
Related Specialties
Emergency respiratory care connects directly to these areas.