Chris Morrissey can hold a tiny twin-pronged piece of plastic
between his fingers. It’s hard to grasp that the unassuming
length of tubing and a mask the size of the end of a man’s thumb
represent a lifeline for patients whose tiny bodies struggle for
each lifesaving breath of precious oxygen. Morrissey is
respiratory therapy (RT) supervisor on the Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit (NICU) at University of Colorado Hospital, a world of
miniature bodies and outsized challenges. There are few loud,
demanding bawls on the hushed unit, where the lungs of the
smallest infants – those weighing scarcely more than a pound –
are the size of a peanut and can accommodate only a couple of
milliliters of oxygen. We’re caring for the weakest population
of patients,” Morrissey says of the unit’s RTs, all of whom are
trained as neonatal pediatric specialists. “All of their organs
are underdeveloped. And they can’t communicate, so everything we
use to help them breathe is based on visual assessment. Little
things that could go unno