Truly provincial PROP delivers services with heart

The Provincial Respiratory Program or PROP is one of the two programs run by BCITS. The RTs working for PROP travel all across BC to visit members. In the last year alone, almost 600 home visits were made between a team of four respiratory therapists and one registered nurse.

Sodany Taing did not think much of leaving the city of Vancouver before starting to work as one of PROP’s RTs, over a year ago. Now she is part of a team that is often spread far across the province, and can be found anywhere between Kelowna to Fort St. John to Vancouver Island to meet with old and new members. The average wait time for a new member to meet with someone from the PROP team is approximately 3-5 business days, once the PROP application is approved.

Throughout the past year, Sodany has deeply enjoyed meeting members and their families across the province. Their stories and their positive energy can often turn a typical visit into a heart-warming experience.

During a recent trip to Kelowna, she met up with a new member who suffers from MELAS (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes).

There is of course the practical aspect of the work to deal with, in this case, reviewing the bipap machine with him. His bipap unit is his main medical device, operated by the over 300 individuals using PROP today. During this particular home visit, Sodany also ensured that this new member knew how to access PROP’s 24-hour phone support line for assistance. Typically PROP team members will leave printed educational materials but also advise the members to browse the educational videos on BCITS’s website. In particular the videos on emergency planning can be useful to all members!

One thing many members are worried about is the cost aspect of the therapy. Sodany was able to alleviate the man’s worries in that regard as BCITS is a non-profit organization and once members have been accepted into PROP there is no need to worry about payment or cost. The member was overwhelmed with gratefulness. Sodany and her colleagues find in moments like this the greatest satisfaction of being a part of BCITS.