Respiratory therapy was formally known as "Inhalation Therapy." It is used to treat seriously ill people with heart and lung (cardiopulmonary) problems. In nineteen ninety-eight, eighty-six thousand jobs were held by respiratory therapists. About nine out of ten were in hospital departments of respiratory care, pulmonary medicine, or anesthesiology. For the remainder of the jobs they were with in home health agencies, nursing homes, and respiratory therapy clinics.

The employment of respiratory therapists is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through the year two thousand and eight, because of the substantial growth of the middle aged and elderly population. As the number of elderly people suffering from cardiopulmonary diseases such as pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and heart disease rise the need for respiratory therapists will increase dramatically. In addition, advances in treating victims of heart attacks, premature infants and accident victims who are dependent...