Chapter 1 – Early History of Respiratory Care

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key people, discoveries, devices, organizations, and concepts from the early history and development of respiratory care.

Respiratory Care

Health-care discipline that specializes in the promotion of optimal cardiopulmonary function and health.

Hippocrates

Greek physician known as the “father of medicine”; believed air contained a vital substance distributed by the heart.

Hippocratic Medicine

Ancient medical theory based on balance of four bodily fluids: phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile.

Hippocratic Oath

Ethical pledge taken by physicians to uphold specific medical principles and patient care standards.

Aristotle

Fourth-century BC philosopher regarded as the first great biologist; studied respiration and life processes.

Erasistratus

Greek physician (330–240 BC) who proposed the pneumatic theory of respiration while working in Egypt.

Galen

Roman anatomist (130–199 AD) who asserted that air supplied a vital substance necessary for life.

Leonardo da Vinci

Renaissance scientist who showed that sub-atmospheric pressure inflates the lungs (1453–1519).

Andreas Vesalius

16th-century anatomist who performed human dissections and experimented with resuscitation techniques.

Joseph Black

Scottish chemist (1754) who described the properties of carbon dioxide.

Joseph Priestley

English scientist (1774) who discovered oxygen, calling it “dephlogisticated air.”

Lazzaro Spallanzani

Italian biologist who investigated tissue respiration in the 1770s.

Jacques Charles

Physicist who in 1787 described the direct relationship between gas temperature and volume (Charles’s Law).

Thomas Beddoes

Physician who used oxygen therapeutically at the Pneumatic Institute in 1778.

John Dalton

Chemist who in 1801 stated the law of partial pressures for gases (Dalton’s Law).

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac

French chemist who in 1808 related gas temperature to pressure.

Thomas Graham

Scientist who defined the law of gas diffusion in 1831.

Louis Pasteur

Developed the germ theory in 1865, linking microorganisms to disease.

Robert Koch

Identified the tubercle bacillus in 1882 and formulated Koch’s postulates.

William Roentgen

Discovered x-rays in 1896, laying groundwork for radiology.

Spirometer

Device (1846) used to measure lung volumes, crucial for pulmonary diagnostics.

Iron Lung

Negative-pressure ventilator introduced by Philip Drinker in 1928 for poliomyelitis patients.

Jack Emerson

Engineer who improved the iron lung design during the 1940s–1950s.

Positive-Pressure Ventilation

Technique first used in anesthesia that forces air into the lungs under positive pressure.

Bird Mark 7

Compact positive-pressure ventilator invented in 1958 by Forrest Bird.

Bennett TV-2P

Early pressure ventilator introduced in 1948.

Servo 900

Advanced volume-cycled ventilator introduced in the 1970s.

Noninvasive Ventilation (NIV)

Ventilatory support provided without an endotracheal tube, lowering VAP risk.

Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP)

Pneumonia occurring in mechanically ventilated patients due to airway instrumentation.

Endotracheal Tube

Airway placed into the trachea; first successfully used by William MacEwen in 1880.

Laryngoscope

Instrument introduced in 1913 to visualize the larynx for intubation.

Low-Pressure Cuff

Endotracheal tube cuff design from the 1970s that reduces tracheal injury.

Suction Catheter

Device (first described 1941) used to remove airway secretions.

Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) Analysis

Rapid measurement of PaO2, PaCO2, and pH; became available in 1967.

Polysomnography

Comprehensive sleep study that became routine in the 1980s.

Clark Electrode

1960s sensor that enabled direct measurement of arterial oxygen tension (PO2).

Pulse Oximeter

Noninvasive device (1980s) that estimates arterial oxygen saturation.

Ear Oximeter

1974 precursor to pulse oximetry that measured oxygen saturation at the ear lobe.

Venti Mask

1960 device that delivers a fixed FiO2 using air-entrainment principles.

Liquid Oxygen System

Portable home oxygen technology introduced in the 1970s for long-term therapy.

Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI)

Breath-actuated device that delivers powdered medication to the lungs.

Small-Volume Nebulizer (SVN)

Device that aerosolizes liquid medication for inhalation; modern innovative designs improve efficiency.

Aerosolized Epinephrine

First inhaled bronchodilator (1910) used to treat asthma.

Isoproterenol

Beta-agonist bronchodilator introduced in 1940.

Albuterol

Short-acting bronchodilator released in 1980 and still widely used.

Levalbuterol

Single-isomer bronchodilator launched in 2000 to reduce beta-agonist side effects.

Inhalational Therapy Association (ITA)

First professional respiratory care association, founded in Chicago in 1947.

American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC)

Current U.S. professional organization for RTs, established under this name in 1982.

National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC)

Organization that administers credentialing exams and supports state licensure.

Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT)

Advanced professional credential recommended for all RTs since 2002.

Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)

Body that accredits respiratory care educational programs.

Respiratory Care Week

Annual event held the third week of October to promote the profession and lung health.

Fellow of the AARC (FAARC)

Honorary designation recognizing outstanding professional achievement in respiratory care.

American Respiratory Care Foundation (ARCF)

Charitable foundation supporting research and education in respiratory care.

International Council for Respiratory Care (ICRC)

AARC-sponsored group promoting global standards in respiratory therapy.

Board of Medical Advisors (BOMA)

Physicians’ panel that advises the AARC on clinical and scientific matters.

Baby Boomers

Post-WWII generation whose aging drives increased demand for respiratory care services.