Barbara Kirkpatrick

Tom Jones

Dian Slavens

Michelle Walker

Amanda Thompson, Mark Enloe, and Rick Carver.

• Kathryn Eakins is featured in this article on the ABC affiliate web site in Wilmington, NC, for helping a friend who suffered heat stroke on a hiking trip. Kathryn says she immediately went into “respiratory therapy mode” to revive her companion.

• Barbara Kirkpatrick is noted for her appointment to the National Harmful Algal Bloom Committee in this article posted in the Mote Marine Laboratory Newsroom. We’ll have more on Barbara and her research into the health effects of this marine phenomenon, more commonly known as “red tide,” in an upcoming issue of AARC Times.

• Kirk Smith comments on the health effects of breathing smoky air in this article on the KTVN web site out of Reno, NV. “The worse the air quality, the higher the density of particles in the air, which makes it more difficult for everybody to breathe," explains the RT.

• Shirley Belanger and Keith Wilkes receive kudos for their recent Maine Society for Respiratory Care Sputum Bowl victory in this article in the Lewiston, ME, Sun Journal. The paper goes on to interview them both about their jobs as RTs and what it takes to prepare for the Sputum Bowl competition.

• Tom Jones is noted as the contact person in this article in the Batesville, AR, Daily Guard about his program’s receipt of an emergency ventilator from the state. Tom, who teaches at the University of Arkansas Community College in Batesville, a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) partner, notes all three of the other UAMS RT programs in the state (located in Little Rock, Texarkana, and Mt. Home) also received one of the emergency vents.

• Allison Cardwell explains how asthma causes breathing problems in this article in the Union of Grass Valley out of Grass Valley, CA.

• Dian Slavens is noted for her bid for state representative in this article in the Detroit, MI, News. She is running on a platform that includes ensuring the availability of preventive care for low-income individuals.

• Michelle Walker and daughter Norah are featured in this article in the Bismarck, ND, Tribune, about a policy at the state department of health that allows employees to bring their newborns to work with them. Michelle and Norah were also recently pictured in a People Magazine article highlighting baby-friendly workplaces. You can learn more about the program—and Walker’s job as the department’s tobacco cessation coordinator—in an upcoming issue of AARC Times.

• Michael Jimmerson fills his community in on the new sleep center opening up in his hospital in this article in the Cherokee County Herald out of Centre, AL.

• Fred Scharf explains how a new pulmonary function analyzer will help improve patient care at his facility in this article in the Sunbury, PA, Daily Item.

• Rick Carver is noted for helping to organize a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis in this article in Blount Today out of Tennessee. The event, which took the form of a motorcycle ride and music fest called “Rhythm and Roll,” raised more than $10,000 for the cause. More on Rick and the event will be coming in AARC Times as well.

• Carl Willoughby is featured for his lobbying efforts on behalf of the recently enacted pulmonary rehab legislation in this article in the Eureka, CA, Reporter.

• Gina Rutz is noted as a speaker for an upcoming Diabetes Health Fair in this article in the Fort Morgan, CO, Times. Gina will address sleep and health at the October event.

• And last but not least, Crossroads Community Hospital is congratulated for earning the AARC’s Quality Respiratory Care Recognition in this article in the Mt. Vernon, IL, Register-News.