Moonlighting Suits This RT Just Fine

Most people who take on a second job do so for very practical purposes—like making ends meet.

But moonlighting for AARC member Mike Folse, BS, RRT, director of cardiorespiratory care at Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma, LA, is more a labor of love—or, more precisely, a chance to do something he loves and get paid for it in the bargain!

It all started back in 1985 when his brother Martin decided to start a small, independent television station. “We were talking about what programs we could air locally,” recalls the RT. “Being an avid outdoorsman, I volunteered to host the outdoor show. I actually did it for no pay in the early years because I loved to hunt and fish and knew this would be the ticket to doing things I had only dreamed of.”

That’s certainly the way it’s turned out. Over the years, Folse has hosted shows featuring everything from frogging, to alligator, salt, and fresh water fishing, to duck, rabbit, and deer hunting. He’s filmed hunts in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Canada, and he’s hosted shows featuring guest sportsmen ranging from state representatives to major league baseball player Will Clark to rock and roll legend Ted Nugent.

He’s also used his role at the station to promote the profession of respiratory care and lung health. “In the past I have set up crews to film educational events that featured local therapists in what we call the Bayou Chapter of the Louisiana Society for Respiratory Care. That has given us some exposure for respiratory therapists and what they do for the community.”

Along with good friend, Ken Duet, MS, RRT, director of the allied health division at Nicholls State University, he’s also showcased several symposiums, and he’s had a number of folks from his hospital on the air to explain various diagnostic tests.

Folse is continuing in that vein this year as well. To help celebrate Lung Health Day, which occurs the Wednesday of National Respiratory Care Week in October, he’s planning a segment that will air during the station’s Evening News program. “I plan to set up a spot that will run on the nightly news show to announce the 22nd and whatever activities we are planning for the viewing area.”

In the meantime—when he’s not busy overseeing his busy department at Terrebonne, which includes the sleep lab, pulmonary rehab, pulmonary function, and non-invasive cardiology as well as respiratory therapy, that is—he’ll be out in the great outdoors, hosting the next big episode of HTV’s “Sportsman Paradise.”