Respiratory Therapy

Our therapists can help with bronchoscopies for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, assisting with bedside bronchoscopy procedures, bedside tracheostomies and emergency bronchoscopy procedures. Our respiratory therapists will administer local anesthesia before the bronchoscopy procedure to make you comfortable. The pathological sample taken in the bronchoscopy will be sent to a lab for analysis after the procedure. You will then stay in the outpatient procedural area for a few hours after the bronchoscopy, before being discharged.

These include breathing help such as ventilator management (invasive and non-invasive), bronchodilator therapy, pulmonary hygiene therapy, nitric-oxide therapy, arterial blood gases, bronchoscopy assistance and tracheostomy care.

Both inpatients and outpatients take part in pulmonary function tests, to check the severity of any air flow problem. Tests include: spirometry, post-bronchodilator spirometry, diffusion capacity, lung capacity, body plethysmography, six-minute walking test, arterial blood gas, respiratory muscle strength and methacholine challenge. If you use a home bronchodilator, it is important that you do not take your medication on the day of the test. If you smoke, you need to cease at least six hours before the test. Depending on your result, you may need to repeat the test, perform other breathing tests or receive a bronchodilator.

We are here to help you gain and maintain control if you suffer from a chronic lung disease. A respiratory therapist will provide individual counseling and management training for respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis. We will also help you use home-based breathing machines such as oxygen concentrators, continuous positive airway pressure ventilation and bi- level positive airway pressure ventilation.

We offer various techniques and devices that can help you maximize the way you breathe. These include: chest physiotherapy and postural drainage, incentive spirometry, deep breathing and coughing exercises, positive expiratory pressure therapy, airway suctioning, the collection of arterial blood for respiratory diagnosis, the use of respiratory medications by nebulizers, meter dose inhalers or dry powder inhalers and oxygen therapy.

We know that healthy sleep is vital for physical and mental wellbeing, boosting performance and reducing safety risks. We diagnose and treat a whole host of sleep- and breathing-related disorders, including sleep apnea, complex breathing disorder, upper airway resistance syndrome, insomnia, narcolepsy, hypersomnia, REM behavior disorders, nightmares, night terrors, disruptive snoring and periodic limb movements. Treatments may include continuous, bi-level or automatic positive airway pressure, mouth guards, mandibular adjusters, sleep-restriction therapy and medications. You may also be invited to take part in a sleep study, which is a non-invasive, overnight examination that enables us to monitor you while you sleep. You will be asked a series of questions regarding your sleep habits, while the technician prepares you for sleep. Small, cupped wires will be attached to your face and head with paste and tape, and occasionally glue. These will monitor your brain activity during sleep. Your heart, breathing, snoring, oxygen levels and limb movements will also be monitored. A technician will keep a careful eye on you and is there to help throughout the night.

Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for your health, and that of your loved ones. But we know it can be a serious challenge. Our Smoking Cessation Program provides you with the guidance, support and treatments you need to help you quit for good. Counseling sessions are held throughout the Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare network. They are free to all Saudi Aramco and JHAH employees and their eligible family members.  

Our dedicated team provides care and education if you have had a tracheostomy, whether as an inpatient or outpatient, and includes speech and language therapists.