Equipment Resources
Keith D. Lamb, RRT
About the Web-Site Owner:
Keith is a staff respiratory therapist at a large hospital on the east coast. He has practiced there since 1999. His interest's among others include, evidence based practice, ARDS, Trauma, and the use of adjunct therapies in critical care.
The following is a brief article about the site owner that was written for a local publication in 2005:
In an under recognized profession such as his, some go a lifetime without being given their dues. Not true for Keith D. Lamb, RRT. In February, he will be "immortalized" so to speak, via a brass plaque that will be placed in a sidewalk located on the Owens campus of Delaware Technical and Community College in Georgetown, Delaware. The sidewalk, also known as the "walk of success", is home to plaques embossed with the names of Delaware Tech alumni that have both significantly contributed to their profession, and have upheld the tradition of community service and professionalism that has become a hallmark of the college.
A 1999 graduate of the college, Mr. Lamb serves as a respiratory therapist at Christiana Care Health Services in Newark, Delaware. He served in the United States Marine Corps for twelve years before that.
A "Team Leader", in charge of department affairs during the midnight shift, Keith works 5 nights a week doing what he loves to do best, helping very sick people survive the night. Supervising 6-7 other therapist’s, isn’t easy to do while having your own patient load. One saving grace says Lamb is the fact that his staff is so autonomous. "The night crew is in general a very experienced and capable group of people." This allows me to take care of my patient assignment, while at the same time being available as a "resource" to others as the need arises.
Lamb quickly rose to the challenge as Team Leader, a post he accepted after only being a therapist for about a year. One of only two team leaders that routinely work the night shift, Keith primarily focuses his efforts on the critically ill adults. His counter-part is a neonatal specialist and helps to care for pre-mature infants that wind up in their Special Care Nursery on advance life support.
Christiana Care is the only level one trauma center in the state, as well as a major referral center for the surrounding area. This means that Lamb and his fellow therapist’s, are charged with attending to the sickest of sickest Delawarians as well as patients from Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Respiratory Therapist’s are primarily responsible for assisting physicians in the diagnosis, treatment and care of those patients that suffer from cardiopulmonary disease and injury. "Often these patients suffer from life-threatening issues like trauma, and severe pneumonia". "These patients benefit from having professionals that are specifically trained and educated in the physiology involved in their disease process". That’s where Lamb and his team of experts come in. They are trained and well versed in pulmonary physiology, the use of artificial airways, and advanced life support systems. They respond to all trauma activation’s and cardiopulmonary emergencies throughout the hospital.
Certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Lamb recently attended the "Fundamentals of Critical Care Support" course. The course (FCCS) that is normally offered to physicians only, prepares physicians to adequately attend to the early needs of the critically ill or injured patient. Lamb had to ask for special permission to attend the course. He wasn’t disappointed. "I was very happy to be able to take place in an excellent learning experience among some very bright people." The course was taught by several intensivist’s (doctors that take care of critically ill or injured patients) that I routinely work with on an every day basis. I enjoyed the three day course and would recommend it to anyone wanting to keep their critical care skills honed and razor sharp.
Mr. Lamb’s interest and devotion to critical care has not gone unnoticed. In 2002, he was named the "Acute Care Practitioner of the Year", by his professions only national organization, the American Association of Respiratory Care or AARC. An active member of the AARC, the Delaware Society for Respiratory Care (DSRC) as well as other organization’s such as the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), he was chosen to receive the award among almost forty thousand other members. It was a very proud moment when I got the call says Lamb". "To be chosen for such an award by my peers was a great honor and one that I won’t soon forget". Mr. Lamb traveled to Tampa, Florida to receive the prestigious award at the annual AARC convention. He was recently nominated to head the Adult Acute Care section of the AARC. Other nominations have included President of the DSRC, as well as national delegate for the DSRC.
National awards are not the only ones being bestowed upon Keith. Last year he was chosen as the "Ancillary Practitioner of the Year" by Christiana Care’s Trauma program headed by trauma surgeon Glen Tinkoff MD, FACS. "This award was at least as important to me as the national one, if not more" says Lamb. This made me feel like I was doing the right thing for my community. Trauma is a huge interest of mine, and to know that my input and expertise is appreciated by the trauma team surgeons, and nurses is a great reward. Our Surgical Critical Care Complex (SCCC) is on the cutting edge of taking a multidisciplinary team approach to trauma and surgical critical care, and I’m very proud to be a member of that team.
Mr. Lamb has authored several articles that pertain to his interest’s in critical care, some that have appeared in international publications. "I love to talk about critical care with anyone who will listen." A member of several international "list-serves", or e-communities of physicians, respiratory therapist’s, nurses, pharmacists, ethicists, and paramedics that communicate via the internet, Lamb is in constant communication with critical care experts around the globe, and frequently renders advice as well as asking for it. He recently participated in the care of an extremely ill young lady admitted to a hospital in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. "I was asked for advice in managing a young lady that was being supported with High Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation or HFOV at a Pennsylvania hospital". "HFOV is a relatively new concept as it pertains to the critically ill adult. Having recently researched the topic extensively in an attempt to bring the technology to Christiana Care, I was able to provide assistance to the intensivist in Pennsylvania. The young lady has since recovered. I communicate daily with health care professionals around the world. It is a learning experience that cannot be replaced. If I have a question about a patient, I can have an answer within minutes." Internet service within the hospital has been extremely valuable to Lamb and his colleagues, and to their patients.
Keith recently tried his hand at teaching. "Being an adjunct instructor at my alma mater has been extremely rewarding. To see the excitement on the faces of aspiring respiratory therapist’s is irreplaceable. I absolutely love to share "lessons learned" with these young folks. Their "thirst" for knowledge is a perfect match for my "need" to talk. "I’d love to teach on a more formal basis some day. For now, bedside practice is where my heart lies. Teaching young physicians and junior therapist’s satisfies my educational "need". Not a day or night goes by that I don’t either teach, or learn or both. Very satisfying, and very very rewarding.
When asked what this latest achievement means, Keith replies, "It means that I’ve found my niche. It means that found something that I’m pretty good at, and as a bonus, I love doing it."
When asked if he plans to leave his current employer, Lamb states that "I love it here, and have developed a rapport with the physicians and staff that would be difficult to replicate. I think that CCHS and I are a perfect match. The leadership here, both departmental and hospital wide, encourages and supports my need to think and act outside the norm, and allows me to be the patient advocate that I might not be elsewhere. I wouldn’t have it any other way.