Respiratory Care Board of California.
Respiratory therapy statutes. (n.d.)
Retrieved February 1, 2003 from http://www.rcb.ca.gov/scopeofpracmain.htm.

• Reviewed by Mike O’Keefe

California’s Respiratory Care Practice Act describes activities that respiratory therapists may employ in the practice of their profession. The respiratory therapist is allowed to assess a patient’s pulmonary function through a number of different means and implement treatment, under non-emergency conditions, based on either a physician’s order or a protocol developed by a licensed health facility. Rather than listing any specific type of medication, the statute uses general terms to describe types of activities included in the practice of respiratory therapy. The law also describes where respiratory therapy may be practiced and specifies that it is performed under the supervision of a physician. A “Good Samaritan” clause provides protection from civil damages for a licensed respiratory therapist who assists at the scene of an emergency outside the person’s place of employment. The law does not distinguish between respiratory therapists, respiratory therapy assistants or other respiratory therapy personnel; indeed, the phrase “respiratory therapist” does not appear in the law at all.