The Ventilator Program is designed for children and teens who have sustained injuries or illnesses that affect their breathing ability. Our multidisciplinary team works closely with you to help wean your child off the ventilator when possible. If your child must remain on the ventilator, the team will help prepare you and your child for a smooth transition home.
Goals
Our care team’s primary objectives are to:
- Wean your child from the ventilator as much as possible, and offer assistance and support to you and your child through the process
- Improve your child’s respiratory muscle strength through nutritional support and therapy
- Encourage speech and oral feeding, when appropriate
Multidisciplinary approach
The Ventilator Program team collaborates with professionals in many specialized services at Children’s to make your child’s breathing as easy as possible. These include:
- Pediatric pulmonary medicine
- Pediatric respiratory therapy
- Pediatric rehabilitation medicine
- Case management
- Child and adolescent life program
- Clinical social work
- Music therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Pastoral therapy
- Recreation therapy
- Rehabilitation nursing
- Speech-language pathology
- School program
- Physical therapy
- Neuropsychology
- Clinical nutrition