Chapter 01: History of Respiratory Care
Kacmarek: Egan’s Fundamentals of Respiratory Care, 12th Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is an expected role of a respiratory therapist?
1. Promoting lung health and wellness
2. Providing patient education
3. Assessing the patient’s cardiopulmonary health status
4. Selling oxygen (O2) therapy devices to patients
a. 1 and 3 only
b. 2 and 4 only
c. 1, 2, and 3 only
d. 2, 3, and 4 only
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 OBJ: 1
2. Where are the majority of respiratory therapists employed?
a. Skilled nursing facilities
b. Diagnostic laboratories
c. Hospitals or acute care settings
d. Outpatient physician offices
ANS: C
Approximately 75% of all respiratory therapists work in hospitals or other acute care settings.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 1
3. Who is considered to be the “father of medicine”?
a. Hippocrates
b. Galen
c. Erasistratus
d. 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 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?
, a. Sir Isaac Newton
b. Robert Boyle
c. Anthony van Leeuwenhoek
d. 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 OBJ: 2
5. Who discovered O2 in 1774 and described it as “dephlogisticated air”?
a. Robert Boyle
b. Jacque Charles
c. Thomas Beddoes
d. Joseph Priestley
ANS: D
In 1774, Joseph Priestley described his discovery of O2, which he called “dephlogisticated air.”
DIF: Recall OBJ: 2
6. Who is credited with first describing the law of partial pressures for a gas mixture?
a. John Dalton
b. Joseph Prestley
c. Jacque Charles
d. 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 OBJ: 2
7. Who was the first scientist in 1865 to suggest that microorganisms caused many diseases?
a. Thomas Young
b. Louis Pasteur
c. Henry Graham
d. 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 OBJ: 2
8. Who discovered the x-ray and opened the door for the modern field of radiology?
a. John Dalton
b. William Smith
c. William Roentgen
, d. Thomas Young
ANS: C
In 1895, William Roentgen discovered the x-ray and the modern field of radiologic imaging sciences
was born.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 2
9. What was the primary duty of the first inhalation therapists?
a. Provide airway care.
b. Support O2 therapy.
c. Aerosol therapy to patients.
d. Maintain patients on mechanical ventilation.
ANS: B
The first inhalation therapists were really just O2 technicians.
DIF: Recall 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 OBJ: 3
11. Who was the first to develop the large-scale production of O2 in 1907?
a. Robert Dalton
b. David Boyle
c. Thomas Anderson
d. Karl von Linde
ANS: D
Large-scale production of O2 was developed by Karl von Linde in 1907.
DIF: Recall 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.
, DIF: Recall OBJ: 4
13. When were aerosolized glucocorticoids for the maintenance of patients with moderate to severe asthma
first introduced?
a. In the 1950s
b. In the 1960s
c. In the 1970s
d. In the 1980s
ANS: C
The use of aerosolized glucocorticoids for the maintenance of patients with moderate to severe asthma
began in the 1970s.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 4
14. Which of the following medications has never been delivered as an aerosol by a respiratory therapist?
a. Inotropes
b. Anticholinergic
c. Mucolytic
d. Antibiotic
ANS: A
There has been a proliferation of medications designed for aerosol administration, including
bronchodilators, mucolytic, antibiotic, anticholinergic, and antiinflammatory agents.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 4
15. Which two names are linked to the development of the iron lung, which was extensively used to treat
the polio epidemic in the 1950s?
a. Allison and Smyth
b. Drinker and Emerson
c. Drager and Bennett
d. Byrd and Tyler
ANS: B
The iron lung was developed by Drinker, an engineer at Harvard University. Jack H. Emerson
developed a commercial version of the iron lung that was used extensively during the polio epidemics
of the 1930s and 1950s.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 5
16. Which of the following was one of the first positive-pressure ventilators developed?
a. MA-1
b. Bird Mark 7
c. Dräger Pulmotor
d. Engstrom
ANS: C
Kacmarek: Egan’s Fundamentals of Respiratory Care, 12th Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is an expected role of a respiratory therapist?
1. Promoting lung health and wellness
2. Providing patient education
3. Assessing the patient’s cardiopulmonary health status
4. Selling oxygen (O2) therapy devices to patients
a. 1 and 3 only
b. 2 and 4 only
c. 1, 2, and 3 only
d. 2, 3, and 4 only
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 OBJ: 1
2. Where are the majority of respiratory therapists employed?
a. Skilled nursing facilities
b. Diagnostic laboratories
c. Hospitals or acute care settings
d. Outpatient physician offices
ANS: C
Approximately 75% of all respiratory therapists work in hospitals or other acute care settings.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 1
3. Who is considered to be the “father of medicine”?
a. Hippocrates
b. Galen
c. Erasistratus
d. 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 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?
, a. Sir Isaac Newton
b. Robert Boyle
c. Anthony van Leeuwenhoek
d. 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 OBJ: 2
5. Who discovered O2 in 1774 and described it as “dephlogisticated air”?
a. Robert Boyle
b. Jacque Charles
c. Thomas Beddoes
d. Joseph Priestley
ANS: D
In 1774, Joseph Priestley described his discovery of O2, which he called “dephlogisticated air.”
DIF: Recall OBJ: 2
6. Who is credited with first describing the law of partial pressures for a gas mixture?
a. John Dalton
b. Joseph Prestley
c. Jacque Charles
d. 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 OBJ: 2
7. Who was the first scientist in 1865 to suggest that microorganisms caused many diseases?
a. Thomas Young
b. Louis Pasteur
c. Henry Graham
d. 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 OBJ: 2
8. Who discovered the x-ray and opened the door for the modern field of radiology?
a. John Dalton
b. William Smith
c. William Roentgen
, d. Thomas Young
ANS: C
In 1895, William Roentgen discovered the x-ray and the modern field of radiologic imaging sciences
was born.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 2
9. What was the primary duty of the first inhalation therapists?
a. Provide airway care.
b. Support O2 therapy.
c. Aerosol therapy to patients.
d. Maintain patients on mechanical ventilation.
ANS: B
The first inhalation therapists were really just O2 technicians.
DIF: Recall 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 OBJ: 3
11. Who was the first to develop the large-scale production of O2 in 1907?
a. Robert Dalton
b. David Boyle
c. Thomas Anderson
d. Karl von Linde
ANS: D
Large-scale production of O2 was developed by Karl von Linde in 1907.
DIF: Recall 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.
, DIF: Recall OBJ: 4
13. When were aerosolized glucocorticoids for the maintenance of patients with moderate to severe asthma
first introduced?
a. In the 1950s
b. In the 1960s
c. In the 1970s
d. In the 1980s
ANS: C
The use of aerosolized glucocorticoids for the maintenance of patients with moderate to severe asthma
began in the 1970s.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 4
14. Which of the following medications has never been delivered as an aerosol by a respiratory therapist?
a. Inotropes
b. Anticholinergic
c. Mucolytic
d. Antibiotic
ANS: A
There has been a proliferation of medications designed for aerosol administration, including
bronchodilators, mucolytic, antibiotic, anticholinergic, and antiinflammatory agents.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 4
15. Which two names are linked to the development of the iron lung, which was extensively used to treat
the polio epidemic in the 1950s?
a. Allison and Smyth
b. Drinker and Emerson
c. Drager and Bennett
d. Byrd and Tyler
ANS: B
The iron lung was developed by Drinker, an engineer at Harvard University. Jack H. Emerson
developed a commercial version of the iron lung that was used extensively during the polio epidemics
of the 1930s and 1950s.
DIF: Recall OBJ: 5
16. Which of the following was one of the first positive-pressure ventilators developed?
a. MA-1
b. Bird Mark 7
c. Dräger Pulmotor
d. Engstrom
ANS: C
