56th AARC International Respiratory Congress

Monday, December 6

Dr. Carolyn Clancy Delivers Keynote Address

Congress attendees were glued to their seats during this morning’s Opening Session, as Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, took the podium for the 2010 Keynote Address. The Opening Session was sponsored by Tri-anim.

Awards Ceremony Honors Top Performers

This morning’s Awards Ceremony, held during the Opening Session supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Tri-anim, honored the following 2010 top performers in the AARC, ARCF, NBRC, and CoARC. Please join us in congratulating them on their well-deserved honors.

• Jimmy A. Young Medal: Margaret F. Traband, MEd, RRT, FAARC
• Morton B. Duggan Jr. Memorial Education Recognition Award: Meredith G. Wood
• Jimmy A. Young Memorial Education Recognition Award: Sade Adepoju
• NBRC/AMP William W. Burgin Jr. MD Education Recognition Award: Josh Oye, RRT
• NBRC/AMP Robert M. Lawrence MD Education Recognition Award: Amber Lynn Galer, RRT
• William F. Miller MD Postgraduate Education Recognition Award: Mary P. Martinasek, MPH, RRT-NPS, RPFT, AE-C
• NBRC/AMP Gareth B. Gish Memorial Postgraduate Education Recognition Award: Cynthia C. White, BA, RRT-NPS, AE-C
• Charles W. Serby COPD Research Fellowship: Brian W. Carlin, MD, FAARC, FCCP, MAACVPR
• Monaghan/Trudell Fellowship for Aerosol Technique Development: Susan A. Roark, BS, RRT-NPS
• Philips Respironics Fellowship in Non-Invasive Respiratory Care: Jerry R. Lang, RRT
• Philips Respironics Fellowship in Mechanical Ventilation: Matthew Callaghan, MD
• CareFusion Fellowship for Neonatal and Pediatric Therapists: Cynthia C. White, RRT-NPS, AE-C
• Forrest M. Bird Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award: Ira M. Cheifetz, MD, FAARC
• Thomas L. Petty, MD, Invacare Award for Excellence in Home Respiratory Care: Louise Nett, RN, RRT, FAARC
• Ikaria Literary Award: Kathy L. Johnston, RRT; Khalid Aziz, MA, FRCPC, FRCPCH
• Dr. Allen DeVilbiss Literary Award: Ken Thigpen, BS, RRT, FAARC; Scott P. Davis, MD; Roberta Basol, RN, MA, NE-BC; Peggy Lange, RRT; Sanjeep S. Jain, MD; John D. Olsen, MD; Bernard R. Erickson, MD; Timothy N. Schuchard, MD; Tom P. Aufderheide, MD
• Albert H. Andrews Jr. MD Memorial Award (NBRC): Richard L. Sheldon, MD, FAARC
• Dr. Ralph L. Kendall Outstanding Site Visitor Award: Ralph L. Kendall, MD, FCCP; Michael Prewitt, PhD, RRT
• Héctor León Garza MD Achievement Award for Excellence in International Respiratory Care: Stefano Nava, MD
• International Fellows: Major Adil Al Otaibi, MSrc, RRT; Guillermo C.C. Nogales, MD; Hui-Qing Ge, RT, BM; Micheline Gmeiner, MD
• Specialty Practitioners of the Year: Adult Acute Care, Daniel D. Rowley, RRT-NPS, FAARC; Continuing Care and Rehabilitation, Sidnie Hess, RRT, AE-C; Diagnostics, Jo Ann Ikehara, RRT, CPFT; Education, Thomas A. Barnes, EdD, RRT, FAARC; Long Term Care, Carrie Hylton, BSRT, CRT; Management, Ken Thigpen, BS, RRT, FAARC; Neonatal-Pediatric, Lee Williford, RRT; Sleep, Sheri Tooley Peters, RRT-NPS, AE-C; Surface and Air Transport, Tommy Warr, RRT-NPS, EMT-P
• Zenith Awards: CareFusion, Covidien, Dräger, Kimberly-Clark, Masimo.
• Life Membership: William H. Dubbs, MEd, MHA, RRT, FAARC; Toni Rodriguez, MEd, RRT
• AARC Fellows: Patricia K. Blakely, RRT, FAARC; Edgar Delgado, RRT, FAARC; Gerilynn L. Connors, RRT, FAARC; Robert M. DiBlasi, RRT-NPS, FAARC; Donna D. Gardner, MSHP, RRT-NPS, FAARC; Mary K. Hart, RRT, AE-C, FAARC; Bradley A. Kuch, RRT-NPS, FAARC; Melvin G. Martin, MS, RRT, FAARC; Patricia M. Munzer, DHSc, RRT, FAARC; Scott Reistad, RRT, FAARC; Earnestine Thompson, MS, RRT, FAARC; Cynthia C. White, RRT-NPS, AE-C, FAARC; Gary Wickman, RRT, FAARC; Joseph Hylton, RRT-NPS, FAARC

The following will be recognized in a separate awards ceremony to take place during the Annual Business Meeting tomorrow morning. Congratulations to:

• Outstanding Affiliate Contributor: Donald Carden, RRT, CPFT, Kansas
• Delegate of the Year: Karen Schell, MHSc, RRT-NPS, Kansas
• Summit Award: Michigan Society for Respiratory Care

Margaret “Peg” Traband Wins the 2010 Jimmy A. Young Medal

When Margaret “Peg” Traband, MEd, RRT, FAARC, walked up to the podium this morning to accept the 2010 Jimmy A. Young Medal at the Awards Ceremony, it was the culmination of a life spent in a profession she loves. But as a little girl growing up in Huron, OH, back in the 1950s and 1960s, Traband wasn’t envisioning a career in respiratory care.

“It wasn’t until my sophomore year in college when I traveled to Toledo to attend the University of Toledo’s homecoming with my boyfriend—and now husband—that I heard about respiratory care,” she recalls. The couple ran into an “inhalation therapist” from a local hospital, who told Traband about her experiences caring for pulmonary patients and the great amount of satisfaction she received from her work. “When I returned to my college campus in Cincinnati, I called my mother and told her I was leaving school and moving to Toledo to be an inhalation therapist,” says Traband.

Of course, her mother quickly put the brakes on the whole idea, insisting her daughter learn more about this new profession first. Traband did just that, volunteering in the inhalation therapy department at a local hospital and eventually enrolling in the program at Cuyahoga Community College. She graduated in June of 1972 and joined the American Association for Inhalation Therapy (now the AARC) that same year.

“My first position in respiratory care was at The Toledo Hospital working the third shift,” she says. “I was the first inhalation therapy school graduate hired in the hospital and the sixth Registered Respiratory Therapist in the city.”

The importance of mentoring

Her first summer in the hospital introduced Traband to a concept that would figure markedly into her future role as a respiratory therapy educator. “It was during this summer that I met my lifetime mentor, Dr. Harold Stevens [MD, FAARC],” she says. “Many a night Dr. Stevens would greet me in the post-op open heart recovery room and join in giving me report…Always patient, always kind, he would answer my questions.”

Dr. Stevens’ mentoring helped Traband develop her skills; and by January of 1973, she was serving as a clinical instructor for the newly developed inhalation therapy program at the University of Toledo’s Community and Technical College. Jerome Sullivan, PhD, RRT, FAARC, now professor emeritus and international consultant, had been recruited by Dr. Stevens to serve as program director, and Traband soon had not one but two key people in her corner. “The stars had aligned perfectly. My two lifelong mentors had entered my life. They continue to this day to support and guide me in my career.”

By January of 1975, Traband was teaching in the didactic part of program, and she went on to earn both her baccalaureate and master’s degrees from the University of Toledo. She’s been with the university ever since, moving up the ranks to her present position as interim executive director and vice provost of the Learning Collaborative, a student-centered component of the university that brings diverse programs and services together to better meet the needs of students.

Volunteering for the profession

Along the way, Traband got actively involved with her professional organizations, serving as secretary and treasurer of her state society, on the Board of Trustees for the NBRC, and as NBRC president in 1994-95. She was president of the AARC in 2002, and she also played an instrumental role in the development of the AARC’s “2015 and Beyond” project — a series of three conferences held over the past few years to determine the knowledge, skills, and attributes that the respiratory therapist of the future will need in order to move forward in the 21st century.

Since her AARC presidency, Traband has remained active in the Association, volunteering with the consumer program that takes place every year at the Congress and with the COPD Foundation’s Mobile Spirometry Unit. “I love being able to talk with people about lung health,” says the Jimmy A. Young Medalist.

This article was excerpted from “Fifth Career Choice a Winner for 2010 Jimmy A. Young Medalist” in the October issue of AARC Times.

U.S. COPD Coalition Meets Today

The U.S. COPD Coalition was formed several years ago to bring patient foundations and organizations, health professional organizations, individuals, and government agencies together to promote the interests of individuals affected by COPD, their family members, physicians, and scientists. The AARC has been a member of the group since the beginning, and this year is pleased to be hosting the U.S. COPD Coalition business meeting at the Congress.

Representatives from our partner organizations will gather with AARC leaders this afternoon at 2 in the Las Vegas Hilton to discuss ways to raise awareness of COPD and draw a map to fill the gaps in scientific knowledge to address prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of the condition.

Opening Reception Gives Attendees a Chance to Kick Back and Relax

The opening day of the Congress will be a whirlwind of activities, but once the day is done, attendees will have the chance to kick back and relax at the Opening Reception hosted by Dräger. The event will feature V51, a versatile, high-energy band playing everything from Sinatra and Reggae to Motown and Rock, and complimentary beverages and snacks will be served.

AARC Salutes 2010 Corporate Partners

AARC Corporate Partners work with the Association to advance the respiratory care profession and promote quality respiratory health care. The AARC is proud to recognize it’s Corporate Partners for 2010: CareFusion, Masimo, Covidien, Monaghan, Philips Respironics, Dräger, and GE Healthcare.

Congress attendees Journeying to the Center of the Lung

The COPD Foundation’s new “COPD Shuttle: Journey to the Center of the Lung” is a 20-seat, state-of-the-art mobile motion simulator aimed at educating the public about lung disease and how it is treated — and this week it’s making an appearance at the AARC Congress. Congress attendees are flocking to the exhibit to take their turn on this informative and entertaining “virtual ride” through the human lung. The Shuttle will be traveling across the country in the coming year, so be on the lookout for it in your own communities.

National Ventilator Survey Published in Peer-Reviewed Journal

At the behest of the Department of Health and Human Services, the AARC conducted an ambitious survey of the nation’s respiratory care departments in 2009 to determine how many, and what types, of ventilators were in the country’s hospitals.

Last fall, the principal investigators, including Dr. Lewis Rubinson, MD, PhD, Steven Nelson, MS, RRT, FAARC, Sam Giordano, MBA, RRT, FAARC, Thomas Kallstrom, MBA, RRT, FAARC, Timothy Buckley, RRT, FAARC, and Richard Branson, MSc, RRT, FAARC, published their findings in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, a peer-reviewed journal for disaster planning professionals. “The paper was the culmination of the outstanding effort on the part of our national organization, state societies, and individual members across the country, who combined efforts to ensure a high response rate on the survey,” says Kallstrom.

Dr. Rubinson is in Las Vegas this week to recruit respiratory therapists for DMATs around the country. You can read more about DMAT recruitment in your January 2011 issue of AARC Times as well.

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