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“My main issue is – and this goes for even my family and myself – there should be consistency of care. If I answer the phone, then you get good [respiratory] care and you get the specialized care that you need. And if I don’t answer the phone or I’m not available, then it’s a crapshoot. So, I have to tell people, don’t get sick.”

“If it involves air going in and out, that would be me,” says Craig Doell, summarizing his complex, life-saving work in a few words.

Doell is the Senior Respiratory Therapist at Boundary Trails Health Centre in Winkler, a position he’s held since the centre opened in 2001.

If you know someone who has asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), requires oxygen at home, has a tracheostomy, uses a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, or has experienced cardiac arrest, it’s likely they’ve been treated by a respiratory therapist.

“I always tell anybody from the belly button to below your neck, that’s my area,” says Doell.

Respiratory therapy in rural areas

In a rural setting like Doell’s, the position scope also includes things like providing counselling for smoking cessation, explaining the therapies that are being provided, transferring critically ill patients to Winnipeg by ambulance, and treating a wider range of patients than in an urban setting. Doell is also an instructor of pediatric advance life support and neonatal resuscitation for Southern Health-Sante Sud. In addition, he maintains a casual respiratory therapist position at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

As with other health care professions, the intense and challenging work is impacted greatly by working and staffing conditions – for better or worse.

Doell is the only respiratory therapist for the Boundary Trails Health Centre, which serves Manitobans living in Winkler and surrounding areas. Having only one respiratory therapist on staff means that if someone requires specialized care to breathe – like high-flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation – Doell is the only one who can set up and maintain the machines. He’s spent nights sleeping in his office and coming in on days and evenings off to assist patients in crisis.

A respiratory therapist must be on site when a patient is using a machine to help them breathe. If the patient needs the machine 24-7, the respiratory therapist is also there 24-7. This is a challenge when there is only one respiratory therapist at a health facility and is one that ultimately affects Manitoban’s ability to receive respiratory care in the region.

Striving for consistency of care

“My main issue is – and this goes for even my family and myself – there should be consistency of care,” says Doell. “If I answer the phone, then you get good [respiratory] care and you get the specialized care that you need. And if I don’t answer the phone or I’m not available, then it’s a crapshoot. So, I have to tell people, don’t get sick.”

When the Boundary Trails Health Centre was built in 2001, the plan was to have two respiratory therapists on staff so that the centre would be able to provide respiratory care to patients around the clock. Nearly 25 years later, that position still hasn’t been filled. In 2023, a second respiratory therapist position was posted but not filled, leaving Doell to continue as the sole respiratory therapist.

Respiratory therapists have a unique set of knowledge and skills that are not replicated by those in other health care professions. When respiratory therapists like Doell work longer hours and come in on days off, they do it with the hope that their work and knowledge as health care professionals will be recognized and additional help with be provided.

There are a range of incentives to encourage people to join the profession beyond increasing salaries such as offering retention bonuses, paying for community members’ education with a requirement to work afterwards, covering the cost of professional license fees and finding ways to support new grads, explains Doell.

Lasting gratitude from patients and families

Despite the challenges, Doell continues to find positive moments in his career. Working through different health challenges with patients and figuring out how to get positive outcomes for them keeps the job interesting and means every day is different, something he enjoys. Having colleagues who know and value his work has also been a key part of why he has continued his career in respiratory therapy.

Hearing the difference he made to patients, even years later, is a highlight for him.

“Finding out from patients and their families that it does make a difference, and they see you,” he says. “It is nice, all of a sudden out of the blue, to hear someone say, ‘You took care of my dad’ or ‘You took care of this kind of thing and I really appreciated you there because you explained everything.’ That part kind of keeps you going, knowing that yes, you are doing the right thing.”

Did you know?

Manitoba was the first province to:

• Develop a school for respiratory therapy
• Create a provincial designation of respiratory therapy in 1987 – the Registered Respiratory Therapist Act
• Establish a regulatory authority of respiratory therapists in 1981 (Manitoba Association of Registered Respiratory Therapists)