Part two of our series on the Fraser Health Knowledge Translation Challenge recipients features a respiratory team from Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Photo (from left to right): Sung Bin Choi, ICU core respiratory therapist; Jaimie Trodden, respiratory therapy educator; Jessica Lu, regional respiratory therapy educator; Scott Mattu, respiratory therapy educator
In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), one of the toughest decisions is knowing when it’s truly safe to take a patient off a ventilator. Respiratory therapists are central to this process. Even when patients pass the current standard test—the Spontaneous Breathing Trial—about one in five still end up needing to be reintubated. This can lead to complications and longer ICU stays.
A team of four respiratory therapists at Surrey Memorial Hospital hopes to improve patient outcomes by adding another level of screening for ventilated patients in the ICU. Their work is made possible by a Knowledge Translation grant funded by Michael Smith Health Research BC and Surrey Hospitals Foundation.
“Most modern ventilators have a measurement called P0.1 monitoring in the background,” says Jaimie Trodden, clinical resource respiratory therapist at Surrey Memorial Hospital. “It lets us know how the patient is breathing and whether we are over-supporting or under-supporting them. By adding the P0.1 measurements to our routine patient monitoring, we believe we can better assess a patient's drive to breathe, so that when we decide to take the endotracheal tube out, we're picking the optimal moment when the patient will be successful.”
The new practice will be rolled out in the adult ICU at Surrey Memorial Hospital, where it will benefit hundreds of patients each year, along with the staff and medical staff who care for them.
“To support this change, we’re providing targeted education, quick-reference tools, and peer coaching,” says Jessica Lu, regional respiratory therapist educator. “Our goal is to make P0.1 part of everyday practice.”
Both Jessica and Jaimie, along with their KT teammates Scott Mattu and Sung Bin Choi, credit the Department of Evaluation and Research Services for giving them the knowledge to help change clinical practice.
“We received tremendous support from the research services team at Fraser Health,” adds Jessica. “It was my first experience with Knowledge Translation and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to help improve clinical outcomes not only in Fraser Health, but possibly, even pave the way for wider adoption in B.C.’s health system.”
Learn more about the KT Challenge.
Read other stories in our series.
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🎉 Congratulations to our Knowledge Translation Challenge 2025 recipients |
