RC Week

National Respiratory Care Week a Big Hit Nationwide

November 6, 2003
The third week in October was once again filled with special activities aimed at celebrating the great profession of respiratory care as RTs across the country celebrated National Respiratory Care Week.

On the national level, the AARC used the occasion to launch its first ever Lung Health Day, held right in the middle of the week on October 22, turning the spotlight on public respiratory health and the role RTs play in prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases.

The highlight of the Day was the introduction of the Association’s YourLungHealth.org web site—a new resource for patients and families trying to cope with respiratory illnesses. The site was heralded around the nation in special radio spots produced on behalf of the AARC called Hometown Radio and featuring RTs from all 50 states. Press packets also went out to media outlets nationwide, and state societies hosted pulmonary function screenings to get the word out about the new site.

But as always, RTs on the local level were the real heroes of the week, going above and beyond the call of duty to host special events in their hospitals and other facilities to congratulate therapists on the contributions they make to health care everyday and raise awareness of the profession in their communities.

As stories about these events come into AARC headquarters, we’re going to share them with all of you here on the web. So, if you have an event you’d like to relate to your fellow therapists around the country, put the information together and email it to Kris Williams and we’ll add it to the list.

Now, take a look at the reports that have already filtered in:

RTs in Tucson, AZ, kicked off the week with a “Wild Party” held at the Reid Park Zoo. Hosted by the Arizona Society for Respiratory Care and organized by local RC department managers and educators, with the generous support of local vendors, the event featured the band “Tickle”—comprised entirely of RTs—along with magicians and animal handlers who wandered through the crowd entertaining guests. Face painting and animal cutouts kept the kids busy, and a picnic lunch was served to all. About 350 therapists and their families paid $2 apiece to attend the party, one dollar of which was donated to purchase tree seedlings for Mt. Lemmon, which was devastated by fire last summer.

Students in the respiratory care program at Youngstown State University in Ohio hosted their annual Hot Air Contest, wherein students pay a dollar to measure their tidal volume. The winner for the fourth year in a row was none other than senior RT student Michelle Bell. “It was fantastic,” says Bell. “I won again with a volume of 625—second place was 545.” The group also raised $465 through a bake sale, which will go into a special account to be used for worthwhile causes over the coming year. Bell sums it up: “I love respiratory and everything it has to offer.”

Pat Carroll, RC,BS, CEN, RRT, MS, touted the use of spirometry in the early detection of chronic lung disease in an interview with reporters on Connecticut’s WTHN television station, explaining the test to viewers and publicizing a free lung screening hosted by the respiratory care department at nearby Manchester Community College. Check out her Web site, which touts spirometry and respiratory therapists to RNs and click to the video archived there.

RTs at 94-bed Kona Community Hospital in Kealakekua, HI, went all out to ensure everyone enjoyed the week and got the word out to fellow staff about the important role RTs play in the health care system. First, they all dressed in white RT-logo t-shirts and posed for a group picture, which manager Marilyn Cupery, RRT, made into a special collage commemorating the event. Then Cupery wrote an article on respiratory therapy and the Week, which is being published this month in the hospital’s newsletter. Says she, “It was the first time we have celebrated RC Week as a group, and it was well received within and outside the department.”

The celebrations at Florida Hospital-Ormond Memorial and Florida Hospital-Oceanside ran the gamut from an ice cream social, pizza party, and staff buffet to a baby picture contest (featuring RT staff, of course). The highlight of the week, though, was a poster contest sponsored by the department for members of a local 5th grade class. RTs traveled to the school to visit with the students about the profession of respiratory care and why it might make a good career choice someday, then instructed them in the basics of the respiratory system and had them draw posters depicting what they had learned. The posters then went on display at the hospital, where the top six were awarded prizes based on creativity and originality.

The staff at Cullman Regional Medical Center in Cullman, AL, put RC Week to good use this year, hosting a silent auction and raffle that raised nearly $700 for a scholarship to be awarded to a respiratory therapy student at nearby Wallace State College. Working with Wallace State Program Director Paul Taylor, Clinical Director Vickie Sellers, and their students, Cullen RT Director Kevin Taylor, RRT, and his group set up booths featuring information about staff members and RT in general, along with the many donated items up for bid in the auction. The week ended with a ceremony to honor the facility's 2003 Respiratory Therapist of the Year. The award went to Lanita Long, RRT.

A Mardi Gras parade highlighted the week's activities at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (PPMH) in Albany, GA. Therapists there first celebrated with a steak dinner, complete with Mardi Gras music, beads, and coins. Then they learned more about therapist driven protocols in a post-dinner presentation by July Tietsort, RN, RRT, FAARC, who was on hand from Mediserve Information Systems. From there, five teams made up of RTs from all over the hospital who had spent the week building Mardi Gras “floats” on children's wagons paraded around the facility, competing for awards ranging from the Martha Stewart Award (for most creative float) to the Touched By an Angel Award (most heart-warming) to the Ripley's Award (most outrageous). The top prize was the Grand Craw Daddy Award, won by the PPHM Monday-Thursday team. The contest was judged by Tietsort, Mediserve Regional Vice President Gordon Brownlie, and the department's medical director, Mark Shoemaker, MD.