COVID-19 is a disease that can significantly impact one’s ability to breathe normally. This is where Purair comes in.

Michael Carr, BHS ’87 (respiratory therapy), serves as president of Purair Products, a medical oxygen supply company in Kansas City, Missouri.

Carr’s company supplies hospitals, nursing homes and home care companies with life-saving oxygen products that are essential to keep patients breathing.

While Carr is quick to point out that he and his employees aren’t on the frontlines, the products they provide are.

“We aren’t on the frontlines, but we are accessories to it,” Carr says. “Before the ventilators and respiratory therapists who operate them can do their jobs, we have to do ours. Without our oxygen, their efforts are for naught. That’s the No. 1 thing people need.”

“Purair’s reach covers ten states throughout the Midwest, and we touch tens of thousands of oxygen patients through our distributors on a daily basis,” Carr says.

“Health Professions students are the future leaders of their respective fields, and through their various degrees, they will have an impact far beyond what they will realize is possible,” Carr says. “I did not realize my company’s effect on society until the country became immersed in the coronavirus pandemic.”

**This story is part of a larger series of Health Professions alumni responding to COVID-19. Read the other alumni stories.**