Awareness of Lung Ultrasound amongst Respiratory Therapists Working in Critical Care: A Prospective Study

Introduction: Respiratory Therapists (RTs) are proficient experts taken part in respiratory treatment and are significant individuals from the patient's treatment group. Under the direction of specialists, they utilize proficient strategies to forestall, assess, analyse, treat, make due, instruct, and care for patients with cardiopulmonary deficiency or irregularities. A new report brought up the meaning of LUS for RTs. Methodology: A structured questionnaire was designed to assess the awareness and knowledge of lung ultrasound among respiratory therapists, covering areas such as basic knowledge of lung ultrasound principles, clinical applications, and familiarity with interpretation of results. Result: The study sample consisted of 112 respiratory therapists was collected, out of which 36% participants performed less than 100 LUS per month and 21% participants performed 600 and above LUS per month. 45.5% respondents are very knowledgeable about current knowledge of LUS. 46% participants strongly agree with LUS values in critical care. 54% participants believe “lack of training and education” is primary barriers to LUS and 46% participants believes “equipment unavailability”. Discussion: However, notable barriers to wider adoption of LUS were identified, “including lack of sufficient training” (30.4%), “equipment shortages” (27.7%), and “time constraints” (21.4%). The findings are similar to study [16] showing the potential barriers of LUS to be “poor reimbursement”, “expensive ultrasound equipment costs”, “lack of POCUS training”, and the “requirement for specialized time for imaging and interpretation”. Conclusion: There is adequate knowledge about LUS in RTs but formal training would be required. Clinical Significance: The study highlights the need for conducting training, workshops of LUS and development of study material and training protocols for respiratory therapist working in critical care units as there is a growing recognition that LUS can be valuable in critical care settings. Key words: lung ultrasound, respiratory therapists, critical care, awareness, training programs, prospective study.