# Respiratory Therapists

> Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians. Initiate and conduct therapeutic procedures; maintain patient records; and select, assemble, check, and operate equipment.

- **SOC code:** 29-1126.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-1126-00
- **Also known as:** Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT), Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT), Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP), Respiratory Therapist (RT), Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Respiratory Therapist, Staff Respiratory Therapist, Staff Therapist, Hospital Respiratory Therapist
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Perform endotracheal intubation to maintain open airways for patients who are unable to breathe on their own.
- Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
- Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
- Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
- Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.
- Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
- Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
- Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
- Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.
- Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears.
- Make emergency visits to resolve equipment problems.
- Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Attend high-risk and caesarian section infant deliveries to provide neonatal respiratory care as needed.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Medicine and Dentistry _(knowledge)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Information Ordering _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Active Learning _(Common Skill)_
- Psychology _(Specialized Skill)_
- Complex Problem Solving _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- eClinicalWorks EHR software _(hot technology)_
- MEDITECH software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Database software
- Electronic medical record EMR software
- HMS

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 28th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 43rd percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 33rd percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 12th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 25th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 12.1% growth (Growing fast); 8.8k annual openings; 139.6k → 156.4k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $80,450; 136,420 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 6% automation, 80% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 4.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** learning.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Educate patients and their families about their conditions and teach appropriate disease management techniques, such as breathing exercises or the use of medications or respiratory equipment. _(1.4% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears. _(1.2% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me educate patients and their families about their conditions and teach appropriate disease management techniques, such as breathing exercises or the use of medications or respiratory equipment.
- Help me explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-1126-00_