Lonny Ashworth, professor for the Department of Respiratory Care, continues to provide international workshops for Japanese medical providers, as he has for more than 25 years. Because of the pandemic, Ashworth provided 17 workshops via Zoom throughout summer 2020 on management of adult patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support. These were presented at nine different hospitals, to approximately 300 physicians, nurses, physical therapists and medical engineers. The Zoom workshops were presented live using a critical care ventilator which was ventilating an electronic lung simulator. The critical care ventilator was connected through a device allowing the attendees in Japan to see the ventilator “live,” similar to how it would appear when ventilating patients. Three of the interpreters during the workshops are alumni of the Department of Respiratory Care at Boise State.
Over the past 25 years, Ashworth has presented approximately 400 workshops in Japan to several thousand clinicians. All of these workshops are due to the vision of the late Toshihiko Koga, whom Ashworth met in Boise when Koga was an International Fellow for the American Association for Respiratory Care in 1995. In 2015, in recognition of his efforts to enhance the field of respiratory care in Japan, Ashworth was awarded the Koga medal, named in honor of Koga, by the International Council for Respiratory Care, a part of the American Association for Respiratory Care. Ashworth is also a fellow of the American Association for Respiratory Care.