by Chia-Chen Chu, Ph.D., RRT, FAARC
Governor for Taiwan of International Council for Respiratory Care 
President of Taiwan Society for Respiratory Therapy 
Technical Director of Respiratory Therapy Department of China Medical University Hospital
Assist Professor of China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China

The 30th anniversary celebration of its founding of the Taiwan Society for Respiratory Therapy (TSRT) was originally scheduled to be held on April 11-12, 2020, was finally successfully held on September 19-20 after the government lifted the ban of large gatherings in July, with a total of nearly 500 members participating in this event. Although the COVID-19 epidemic is severe, since Taiwan is an island country, it is easy to stop the community epidemic by controlling borders, wearing masks, and maintaining social distance. So far, there are 55 local cases of the 543 confirmed cases, and 7 of the confirmed cases have died.

About the TSRT

The TSRT was established on April 1, 1990. At that time, it was named the Respiratory Care Association of the Republic of China (RCAROC). At that time, 92 people participated in the establishment of the Association (more than 4,000 people have national certificates right now). The purpose of the establishment at that time was to promote the exchange of respiratory therapy experience between hospitals, to promote the pass of the respiratory therapist law, and to establish the respiratory therapists were trained from universities. It was happily passed in the third reading of the Legislative Yuan on December 21, 2001. 

Promulgated and implemented by the President on January 16, 2002, the profession of respiratory therapist officially became a member of the medical profession in Taiwan. 

Due to the passage of the Respiratory Therapist Act, practicing respiratory therapists must form associations in accordance with the law. Therefore, various county and city associations were established one after another. 

On December 3, 2006, the Respiratory Therapists Society of the Republic of China (RTSROC) was established. After completing the phased tasks, the RCAROC changed its name to the TSRT on December 19, 2004 to match with the name of the respiratory therapist and to communicate with the respiratory therapy professionals in Mainland China. 

Since 2006, the Inter-Coastal Respiratory Therapy Assembly (ICRTA) were held around nine cities for thirteen sessions.

Adapting to 2020

Due to the epidemic situation, foreign guests underwent a 14-day home quarantine restriction, resulting in all invited foreign guests unable to attend the conference.

Thank you, Dr. Dean Hess for recording two speech topics and playing videos for members to learn. In addition to absorbing new ones, they also can learn English and feel very interested. 

I would also like to thank John D. Hiser, Daniel D. Rowley, Hassan S. Alorainy, Kook-Hyun Lee, Kazunao Watanabe, Gustavo Adolfo Olguin and others for recording videos or writing congratulations, and my friends from mainland China, such as Huiqing Ge, Yuqi Liu, Liang Xu and other ICRC members. The warm video congratulations made members feel very warmth. 

Dr. Xu even directly explained the experience of taking care of COVID-19 severely ill patients first-hand in the video conference. As the proverb says: a bosom friend afar brings a distant land near.

The event also received a congratulatory message from the Vice President, Dr. Ching-te Lai. Executive Deputy Chief of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Dr. Chung-Liang Shih announced the news that the number of respiratory therapists would be doubled, which made members more excited.

The hard two-day course, the full range of activities, and the enthusiastic participation of booth manufacturers made the overall venue very lively. In addition to the learning of new academic knowledge, it also accelerated the emotional exchanges between members. 

I look forward to the conference on April 11 next year. Whether the epidemic has eased slightly, foreign guests can also come to participate in the grand event in Taiwan.