More Than Breathing: Respiratory Therapists Answer the Call for Preterm Triplets
When most people think of respiratory therapy, they may picture breathing treatments, oxygen therapy, or care for patients with asthma, pneumonia, or other pulmonary conditions.
What many don't realize is that respiratory therapists can also play a critical role in saving the lives of the smallest and most fragile patients.
For Forrest Health respiratory therapists Tammy Long, RRT, and Susan McNeil, CRT, that role became especially clear one spring afternoon when they received an urgent call involving preterm triplets born at an outside facility.
The babies, delivered at just 26 weeks gestation, faced tremendous challenges from the moment they entered the world. The mother had received no prenatal care and didn’t know she was pregnant with triplets until four days before they were delivered. Born nearly three months early and weighing far less than full-term infants, each baby required immediate specialized respiratory support to survive.
As plans were being made to transport the infants to Forrest General Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), it became clear that the transport team and ambulance would not arrive before delivery. Time was critical.
Without hesitation, Long and McNeil agreed to accompany neonatologist Dr. Manika Sharma to the outside hospital and begin caring for the infants.
Neither therapist was on shift at the time.
McNeil was preparing for her evening shift when she received a call from Sharma warning that help might be needed. A short time later, the call came.
"I was actually headed to the gym," McNeil recalled. "Dr. Sharma called and said, 'We've got to go.' Tammy picked me up, I changed clothes in the car, and we headed out."
When they arrived, the triplets had already been delivered, and the team immediately went to work. For infants born at 26 weeks, the first priority is often establishing and maintaining an airway.
"A baby that size isn't going to maintain an airway on their own," Long explained. "If you can get the airway and support their breathing, the heart rate is usually going to respond. That's our first and biggest job."
The team worked quickly to secure airways, manage ventilator support, maintain body temperature, and begin the interventions needed to give the babies the best possible chance for survival.
Unlike larger hospitals with extensive neonatal teams, this facility did not have a Level III NICU or dedicated neonatal respiratory therapists. The expertise Long and McNeil brought with them proved invaluable.
At Forrest Health, respiratory therapists working in the NICU perform an expanded scope of practice that is uncommon across much of Mississippi.
"As far as NICU respiratory care goes, we're able to do more than most programs in the state," Long said. "Most respiratory therapists aren't trained to do some of the procedures we perform. We've developed a very specialized skill set."
Together, Long and McNeil bring 54 years of respiratory therapy experience to the bedside, with more than five decades spent caring for critically ill newborns.
Yet neither views their actions that day as extraordinary.
"This transport wasn't something we wouldn't do anyway," Long said. "If somebody needs something and they call one of us, we're coming. That's just how we were raised."
McNeil agrees.
"You don't worry about whether you're on the clock or whose shift it is," she said. "You just know somebody needs you."
Because transportation resources were limited, the team coordinated multiple trips to safely move all three babies to Forrest General Hospital’s NICU. McNeil accompanied two infants back to Hattiesburg while Long remained behind with the third baby until the ambulance could return.
Once the infants arrived in Forrest General's NICU, the work continued. The babies were placed on ventilators, monitored closely, and received the advanced neonatal care required for extremely premature infants.
Today, all three children are doing well.
The successful outcome reflects not only advances in neonatal medicine but also the dedication of the expert caregivers who stand ready to respond when every second matters.
For Long and McNeil, caring for premature infants requires a unique perspective.
"It takes a special kind of person," Long said. "We see a patient who needs help, and we know what needs to be done. That's where our focus has to be."
Still, both acknowledge that working in the NICU creates lasting connections with patients and families.
“Tammy and Susan exemplify how a healthcare worker is truly built: heart, dedication, self-sacrificing,” said Dr. Manika Sharma, neonatologist. “In such an emergent situation, such as the transport of extremely premature triplets, both of these extraordinary respiratory therapists didn’t question my request to go ahead of the transport team. They jumped right into action at the hospital – Susan with me in the delivery room, and Tammy joined us in the nursery. Their skill and calmness helped to ease a chaotic situation, and I knew I didn’t have to worry about their respective patient; each baby was in good hands. The babies had great outcomes, due in large part to the care that Tammy and Susan provided in those pivotal first few minutes and hours. We are fortunate to have them as such an integral part of our NICU team!”
According to McNeil, "We're there every day. We see their progress. We get to know the families. Sometimes you're taking care of the parents just as much as you're taking care of the baby."
Their willingness to answer the call that day earned Long and McNeil Forrest Health's We CARE Award, recognizing employees who embody the organization's commitment to go above and beyond.
In this case, those patients happened to be three of the smallest Forrest Health has ever cared for.
Their actions serve as a reminder that respiratory therapy is about far more than breathing treatments. Sometimes, it means dropping everything, rushing to the bedside and helping give three newborns the chance to take their first breaths — and many more to come.
