As she walks through the door, she greets her colleagues and reaches for her report-her lifeline for the next 12 hours.

Blain Hoyle, SCC Graduate

Every night it is different-different patients with different problems. Sometimes it's 10 patients, sometimes it's 30. She's never sure until she reaches for that report.

For the next couple of hours she's up and down the hallway administering medications and breathing treatments, assessing the patient's current status and performing chest physical therapy. But from one moment to the next, she's unsure of what's coming.

"You can get called away at any time to help with a patient in distress," said Blain Hoyle, a Certified Respiratory Therapist at Mission St. Joseph's and graduate of SCC's Respiratory Therapy program. "Anything can happen, and I mean anything!"

Hoyle spends her shifts responding to "codes" where she will perform CPR and other lifesaving procedures. She may witness the beginning of a life or the ending of a life. She may bag someone or place someone on a ventilator. She may teach a child how to use an inhaler or draw blood to survey oxygen levels.

"You never really know what will come your way," said Hoyle. "But, at the end of the day you know you've helped someone breathe a little easier. And, there's a lot of satisfaction in that."

More about SCC's Respiratory Therapy program