So let’s get this straight. A trained operator tells me to push button A and check on the patient every 15 minutes, gives me responsibility for 5 patients then they go out to train someone else. You think that the patient would be better off with no ventilator at all?
United States and Canada
In the United States and Canada, Respiratory Therapists are healthcare practitioners who, after receiving at least an Associate of Science in Respiratory Care, complete a credentialing process.
After satisfactorily completing the required examinations and being added to a registry, the practitioner is then eligible to apply for a license to practice in the region governed by their respective licensing body.
In the United States, specialist Respiratory Therapists are clinicians who hold National Board for Respiratory Care specialty credentials, which may include neonatal/pediatric specialist (CRT-NPS or RRT-NPS), adult critical care specialist (RRT-ACCS), sleep disorder specialist (CRT-SDS or RRT-SDS), and pulmonary function technologist (CPFT or RPFT). The NBRC’s RRT-ACCS examination is the newest NBRC examination: it was introduced in 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_therapist#United_States_and_Canada