My name is Jason Zurba and I am the Clinical Supervisor for the Respiratory Therapy (RT) Department of the Royal Columbian Hospital.
I thank TB Vets for the ongoing support that they have given to Respiratory Therapy in BC and to me personally over the last two decades.
I have three debts of gratitude [to TB Vets]:
As an RT student
As a young student in 1998 at Thompson Rivers University, I was awarded a bursary from TB Vets to help pay for some of my tuition towards my RT training. It really helped at a time when I needed the financial assistance. This support helped make me the conscientious RT that I am today.
As a respiratory therapist
Without TB Vets and their generosity, RTs would not be able to do the job we do with people on life support. Whether it is an adult ventilator or a neonatal high frequency jet ventilator, if you look closely enough you will probably find an unassuming TB Vets donor tag somewhere on the equipment.
Whether it is an adult ventilator or a neonatal high frequency jet ventilator, if you look closely enough you will probably find an unassuming TB Vets donor tag somewhere on the equipment.
As a loved one
On a much more personal note, I thank TB Vets for a particular piece of equipment.
One of the most important people in my world is my stepdaughter. [In 2016], her father suffered a cardiac arrest and heart attack. He was brought to Royal Columbian Hospital where he was looked after by my colleagues and staff.
His life was dependent on the exact type of non-invasive ventilator that TB Vets [had donated]. He is doing much better now and has moved to a less acute ward. I tracked down the exact machine that he was on because I was curious about it and was not at all surprised with what I found:
As a Respiratory Therapist, one gets used to being forgotten. The people that we see are usually the sickest of the sick, requiring life support and generally not doing incredibly well. By the time that they are awake and aware of what is going on around them, the RTs have left to go look after someone else. How could they ever remember us? The one group that has never forgotten us is TB Vets. Their generosity keeps our modern ICUs functioning, helping save countless lives.*
Jason Zurba B.Sc, RRT
Clinical Supervisor, Respiratory Therapy, Royal Columbian Hospital
