Mary Martinasek

Laurie Miller

Gregg Marshall

Louis Brecht

Rene Fong

Frank Bruch Hart

Jessica Lopez

Geri Bernacki

Joan Moore

• Denise Rees highlights the respiratory care profession in this article in Working World magazine. “One of the biggest challenges is making sure we understand new technologies,” she was quoted as saying. “Evidenced-based medicine is so important.”

• Mary Martinasek comments on efforts to make her college campus smoke free in this article in the Minaret out of the University of Tampa, noting she’s seen the devastation smoking can cause and is happy to contribute in any way she can to efforts to help more people go smoke free.

• Laurie Miller explains why she decided to go back to school to become an RT after getting laid off from her job as an auto manufacturing supervisor in this article on the ABC-TV affiliate website out of Dayton, OH. “That was more of a j-o-b, this is more what I see as a career,” she was quoted as saying.

• Gregg Marshall and Billy Warton talk about their on-campus sleep center in this article in the Texas State University Star, noting it helps train RTs in the field of sleep, provides an important service to the community, and serves as a venue for sleep research. Last spring, the center compared sleeping habits of traditional students with those of veterans. “We found that the veterans were hypersensitive to any type of sound,” Gregg was quoted as saying. “Being that alert, they can’t get into a deep sleep, and sleep apnea can occur.”

• Jamie Lee shares her expertise on asthma in this article in the Indianapolis, IN, Star. “Asthma is very easy to manage,” she was quoted as saying. “If someone is not in control and is a true asthmatic, they’re either not on the right medicine, not taking their medicine, or they haven’t expressed their symptoms in a way the physician can address.”

• Louis Brecht is noted for giving a talk on “Children, Asthma and Athletics” at a local recreation complex in this article in Ocean City Today out of Ocean City, MD

• Rene Fong explains how a new organization in her community called “Respiratory Works” is bringing education on respiratory conditions to the public in this article in the Stockton, CA, Record. “We felt the need to get the word out there and be a resource and adjunct to physicians in the community and help people who are underserved,” she was quoted as saying.

• Frank Bruce Hart is profiled for his long career in RT in this interview in The Ledger out of Lakeland, FL. When asked why he likes the field, he replied, “You’re doing different things. That can be anything from treating newborns with underdeveloped lungs to young children with croup or asthma to older people with emphysema.”

• Felicia Spencer is noted for receiving an award bestowed on an RT student each year to honor the memory of Marilyn Taylor, a local RT who passed away in 1998, in this article in the Daily Review out of Pennsylvania. Program Director Larry Vosburgh is pictured along with Felicia and Director of Clinical Education Susan Ferrito.

• Jessica Lopez’s unique mailbox is covered in this article in the Riverside, CA, Press-Enterprise. Shaped like a tree trunk, it’s made of concrete and can withstand just about anything. Jessica had it installed a few years ago after her previous mailbox suffered from an act of vandalism.

• Ray Hernandez and his students, Benjamin Basto, Andrew Young, and Raymond Chung, are featured in this article in the Skyline View out of Skyline Community College about the college’s first ever Clear the Air Film Festival. A joint effort by the Respiratory Therapy Club and Breathe California, the event is aimed at promoting lung awareness through a student film competition.
  
  
  

• Eva Moran is noted for receiving her facility’s Employee of the Month award for January in this article in the Sun Herald out of Biloxi-Gulfport and South Mississippi.

• Geri Bernacki is profiled for her volunteer work with the American Lung Association in this article on the ALA website. Geri was recognized for her involvement in a COPD Symposium and Asthma Educator Institute.

• Joan Moore is pictured in this photo essay in the Winston-Salem, NC, Journal about a Students @ Work program that introduces kids to careers in health care.

• Julie Comer and her award-winning dog George are featured in this press release out of the University of Virginia. George recently took top honors in the Best of Breed category at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City—the second longest running sporting event in the country, behind the Kentucky Derby.

And these facilities have received great coverage for earning the AARC’s Quality Respiratory Care Recognition—

• Summit Medical Center in this article on TheCityWire.com out of Arkansas.
• Galion Community Hospital in this article in the Mansfield, OH, News Journal.
• Dosher Memorial Hospital in this article in the Wilmington, NC, Star News.

Enrollment/recertification for the QRCR program is open now through March 31.