,Chapter 01 - History of Respiratory Care
Egan’s Fundamentals of Respiratory Care, 12th Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is an expected role of a respiratory therapist?
Promoting lung health and wellness
Providing patient education
Assessing the patient’s cardiopulmonary health status
Selling oxygen (O2) therapy devices to patients
1 only
1 and 4 only
1, 2, and 3 only
d. 1, 2, 3, and 4
ANS: C
Respiratory care includes the assessment, treatment, management, control, diagnostic
evaluation, education, and care of patients with deficiencies and abnormalities of the
cardiopulmonary system. Respiratory care is increasingly involved in the prevention of
respiratory disease, the management of patients with chronic disease, and promotion of health
and wellness.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 3 OBJ: 1
2. Where are the majority of respiratory therapists employed?
Skilled nursing facilities
Diagnostic laboratories
Hospitals or acute care settings
Outpatient physician offices
ANS: C
Approximately 75% of all respiratory therapists work in hospitals or other acute care settings.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 3 OBJ: 1
3. Who is considered to be the “father of medicine”?
Hippocrates
Galen
Erasistratus
Aristotle
ANS: A
The foundation of modern Western medicine was laid in ancient Greece with the development
of the Hippocratic Corpus. This collection of ancient medical writings is attributed to the
“father of medicine,” Hippocrates, a Greek physician who lived during the fifth and fourth
centuries BC.
DIF: Recall REF: pp. 3-4 OBJ: 2
,4. In 1662, a chemist published a book that described the relationship between gas, volume, and
pressure. What was the chemist’s name?
Sir Isaac Newton
Robert Boyle
Anthony van Leeuwenhoek
Nicolaus Copernicus
ANS: B
The chemist, Robert Boyle, published what is now known as “Boyle’s law,” governing the
relationship between gas, volume, and pressure.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 6 OBJ: 2
5. Who discovered O2 in 1774 and described it as “dephlogisticated air”?
Robert Boyle
Jacque Charles
Thomas Beddoes
Joseph Priestley
ANS: D
In 1774, Joseph Priestley described his discovery of O2, which he called “dephlogisticated
air.”
DIF: Recall REF: pp. 6-7 OBJ: 2
6. Who is credited with first describing the law of partial pressures for a gas mixture?
John Dalton
Joseph Prestley
Jacque Charles
Thomas Young
ANS: A
John Dalton described his law of partial pressures for a gas mixture in 1801 and his atomic
theory in 1808.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 7 OBJ: 2
7. Who was the first scientist in 1865 to suggest that microorganisms caused many diseases?
Thomas Young
Louis Pasteur
Henry Graham
Robert Koch
ANS: B
In 1865, Louis Pasteur advanced his “germ theory” of disease, which held that many diseases
are caused by microorganisms.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 7 OBJ: 2
8. Who discovered the x-ray and opened the door for the modern field of radiology?
John Dalton
William Smith
, William Roentgen
Thomas Young
ANS: C
In 1895, William Roentgen discovered the x-ray and the modern field of radiologic imaging
sciences was born.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 7 OBJ: 2
9. What was the primary duty of the first inhalation therapists?
Provide airway care.
Support O2 therapy.
Aerosol therapy to patients.
Maintain patients on mechanical ventilation.
ANS: B
The first inhalation therapists were really just O2 technicians.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 7 OBJ: 3
10. When did the designation “respiratory therapist” become standard?
a. 1954
b. 1964
c. 1974
d. 1984
ANS: C
In 1974, the designation “respiratory therapist” became standard.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 7 OBJ: 3
11. Who was the first to develop the large-scale production of O2 in 1907?
Robert Dalton
David Boyle
Thomas Anderson
Karl von Linde
ANS: D
Large-scale production of O2 was developed by Karl von Linde in 1907.
DIF: Recall REF: p. 7 OBJ: 4
12. When was the first Venti-mask introduced that allows the precise delivery of 24%, 28%, 35%,
and 40% O2?
a. 1945
b. 1954
c. 1960
d. 1972
ANS: C
The Campbell Venti-mask, which allowed the administration of 24%, 28%, 35%, or 40% O2,
was introduced in 1960.
