Students in the new Associate of Applied Science in Respiratory Therapy (RT) program have a new hangout now, a combination classroom/laboratory in the Technical Building, Room 29, complete with equipment for learning the latest techniques in respiratory therapy.

Recently, Dalton State’s RT staff, which includes Program Director Max Pierce and Instructor and Clinical Services Coordinator Hossein Gharanfoli, hosted an Open House for the area’s medical community, potential and registered students, faculty and staff to show off the new classroom.

“We have several students enrolled this fall, with a number of people who are completing their program prerequisites so they can enter the next class or Respiratory Therapists,” says Pierce.

“The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that there will be a tremendous need for new Respiratory Therapists over the next decade as the baby boomers age and develop more disease. It promises to be an occupation that is in demand for a long time.”

Respiratory Therapists perform a number of different functions, including working with post-surgery and post-trauma patients, administering aerosol medications, taking care of patients on ventilators, performing lung expansion therapies, clearing secretions from airways, and performing treatments to prevent pneumonia.

The Associate of Applied Science in Respiratory Therapy degree consists of 87 semester hours to be taken over a two-year period and is offered through the College’s Technical Division. Students enrolled in the program will also participate in clinical rotations, averaging about 16 hours per week interning in area clinical and hospital settings.