Respiratory Presentation Leaves Kids Breathless

WAITSBURG – "Stick your finger right in that chamber there. Go ahead!" said Columbia County Health System Respiratory Therapist Tom Anderson to a student holding a human heart. Anderson, who is celebrating his one-year anniversary with CCHS, held Waitsburg fourth and fifth graders spellbound during a visit to their classrooms last week.

And why wouldn't he? It's not every day that a visitor shows up with an actual heart and lung that students can touch and feel. Anderson looked like he was having as much fun as the kids as he used a pump to inflate the lung a student held in her hands.

"I love the look on the kids' faces and seeing them grin while their eyes get twice as big. They're genuinely enthused and excited, which is good to see, especially in education," Anderson said.

Anderson, a lively presenter, told the students a bit about his job and the tools he uses, let them explore the heart and lung, and challenged students to look at X-rays to determine what the problem was. He said the X-ray of a woman pregnant with twins usually stumps the class.

"I like to keep it entertaining, but slide in an educational component. The X-rays are a great learning point to bring home the importance of those rules kids hear all the time," Anderson said. "When you see an X-ray of a quarter lodged in an esophagus, you understand why you don't want to be putting things in your mouth," he added.

Anderson moved to Dayton from Prosser, Wash. last year after 25 years working at Prosser Hospital and Sunnyside Hospital. He was drawn to Dayton for the job opportunity at CCHS which allowed him to start a brand new department.

"Some of the equipment we have here rivals that at the University of Washington and Deaconess (in Seattle) – it's that good of quality," he said. "Part of why they chose me is because I had already worked with the equipment. Now people don't have to go to Walla Walla for lung and heart testing," he said.

Anderson said his patients can run the gamut from someone having difficulty breathing due to asthma, to someone in the emergency room who has punctured a lung and can't breathe. His days include scheduling and performing pulmonary function and treadmill testing and working with patients.

Anderson has also been leading weekly smoking cessation classes as part of the CCHS Wellness Program. The current group is wrapping up this month but he said the hospital plans to offer another class later this year.

"Smoking in Dayton is higher than the state average. It takes the average person six to eight tries to quit if they try to do it alone. If someone really wants to quit for themselves – not because someone is pushing them to do it – the class is great for information and support," Anderson said.

Anderson said the school visits are part of the hospital's outreach program. "We're just letting people know we're here," he said.

Anderson hopes to visit Prescott and Starbuck schools and said he is available to speak at groups like Kiwanis, especially if they have a specific topic they'd like him to address. He said there is no charge to have him speak.

"The community supports the hospital and we want to support the community," he said.

Anderson said he is enjoying the move and that he and his wife have been welcomed by the community. His wife, Kathleen Anderson, who is also a respiratory therapist, was recently hired by CCHS as manager of the Waitsburg and Dayton clinics.

Anderson said he has never lived in a rural area before and is enjoying that part of the experience as well.

"We're getting used to deer and wild turkeys walking through the yard, looking at us, and walking on. I love that part!" he said.