Heavy hauling: Respiratory therapist gets ventilators where needed

Rob Scott bought his white, hulking Ram 2500 diesel-powered pickup to pull a trailer and haul camping gear on weekend getaways with his wife.

But instead of treks to the mountains west of Colorado Springs, the UCHealth Memorial Hospital clinical respiratory therapy manager is using his heavy hauler to move priceless 500-pound ventilators between Memorial Hospital Central and Memorial Hospital North, on 75 mile treks to Pueblo, and up Ute Pass to UCHealth Pikes Peak Medical Center in Woodland Park.

Since the start of the pandemic, he estimates he’s logged more than 2,000 miles.

“You do what you’ve got to do,” Scott, a 42-year respiratory therapist, said. “I can get six of these in one load.”

Scott knows the equipment and the life-saving role it can play in helping patients in the fight against COVID-19. He began his career at a VA hospital in the late 1970s and he has helped fight the effects of other deadly viruses including HIV and SARS. That’s why he’s hesitant to delegate moving the machines valued at $40,000 each to someone more accustomed to moving furniture or packages.

“We know these machines. We know how to take a screen off and where to put a pad to protect it,” Scott said. “It’s what you learn after working with something for 40 years.”

Scott is quick to point out he doesn’t act alone. Respiratory therapy operations manager Rob Drumm or director Kevin McQueen are often alongside him on trips to move ventilators. Drumm and McQueen have also used their own pickups to move equipment to where it’s needed.

“Honestly, they (Rob Scott and Rob Drumm) always go above and beyond,” McQueen said. “This is nothing out of the normal for them.”