Respiratory Therapy offers a new service to help patients, and keep them local

L+M Hospital’s Respiratory Therapy team is now trained and ready to provide patients with inhaled nitric oxide, a gas that can help people breathe.

The Respiratory team can also assist interventional cardiologists when performing certain cardiac catheterization procedures that require nitric oxide, keeping patients at L+M instead of having them transported to Yale New Haven Hospital.

Respiratory therapists recently completed training for “NOxBox” devices that safely administer the gas to patients. The NOxBox devices will first be used for patients requiring right-sided catheterization procedures; the gas is helpful, for example, in diagnosing patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

“I’m proud of our team for their enthusiasm to learn this new technique, knowing that it will better serve patients in our region,” said Donna Villano, director of Cardiopulmonary Services, Respiratory Therapy and the Sleep Center.