Respiratory Therapy Team - 2023 D. Aubrey Moodie Team Award

Photo of some of QCH’s Respiratory Therapy team.

Congratulations to the Respiratory Therapy team, recipients of the 2023 D. Aubrey Moodie Team Award.

There has been no shortage of amazing teamwork around the Q these last few years. The way that our teams have supported each other and their patients, through every challenge, has been nothing short of amazing.

The Respiratory Therapy team has shown a particularly amazing ability to adapt to change. When COVID arrived, the Respiratory Therapy team had to change much of their practice overnight. They cared for the sickest of COVID patients – balancing the need to ventilate with the risk of lung injury. They developed communication tools to help ensure that everyone would have a clear understanding of individual patient needs and reduce the risk of lung injury. They expanded their scope to include attending all ICU Outreach calls, preventing treatment delays.

The pandemic took an extreme moral toll on all healthcare workers, especially RTs – who were involved with COVID patients from the ED to the medicine units, to their intubation in ICU, and for many, to their last breaths. RTs struggled daily with the knowledge that their efforts were often going to be in vain, and they witnessed many patients transition from talking, terrified people, to unresponsive and clinging to life. Despite the intense mental and physical stress, RTs came to work every day and worked overtime to support their team. And despite these challenges – none of them have left their profession.

We thank them.