Coming Soon!
Increase your airway clearance skills, knowledge and earn CRCE with AARC’s new guide, designed to help you apply Airway Clearance Therapy (ACT) effectively at the bedside and beyond.
About the AARC Airway Clearance Guide
The new AARC Airway Clearance Guide provides practical, clinically relevant information for respiratory therapists related to Airway Clearance Therapy (ACT). The goal of this guide is to support RTs in selecting, implementing, and evaluating ACT strategies so they can optimize outcomes across care settings.
The guide highlights best practices for varied patient populations, including pediatric patients, mechanically ventilated patients with artificial airways, and those receiving airway clearance in the home.
What You’ll Learn
Upon review of this guide, you should be able to:
- Describe airway clearance in both health and disease.
- Compare airway clearance issues related to abnormal secretions versus abnormal cough.
- Discuss pharmacologic approaches to airway clearance, including indications, monitoring, and potential complications.
- Describe airway clearance approaches that do not require a device, including indications, monitoring, and potential complications.
- Compare the use of devices intended to loosen secretions, including indications, monitoring, and potential complications.
- Discuss the use of devices intended to improve cough, including indications, monitoring, and potential complications.
- Assess the response to airway clearance therapy.
- Determine the appropriate airway clearance therapy for an individual patient.
- Discuss considerations for airway clearance therapy in pediatrics, in mechanically ventilated patients with an artificial airway, and in the home.
Key Features
- Highlights best practices for varied patient audiences, including pediatric, mechanically ventilated, and home-based patients.
- Focuses on implementable, practical airway clearance skills RTs can use in real-world settings.
- Developed by airway clearance experts with extensive clinical and educational experience.
- $29.99 for AARC members, $299 for nonmembers
- Eligible for CRCE credit.
- Designed for easy reference at the point of care or in educational settings.
Who Is This Guide For?
This guide is designed for:
- Practicing respiratory therapists in acute, post-acute, and home-care settings.
- RTs working with pediatric, mechanically ventilated, and chronic-secretion-management patients.
- Educators and preceptors teach airway clearance principles and techniques.
- Clinical leaders and specialists are updating or developing airway clearance protocols.

