AARC Congress 2011 Gazette
for Saturday, November 5
Awards ceremony, keynote address highlight opening session
Top performers in respiratory care made their way up to the stage this morning as the AARC, ARCF, NBRC, and CoARC recognized their accomplishments during the awards ceremony. The ceremony concluded with the presentation of our profession’s highest honor, the Jimmy A. Young Medal, awarded each year to an individual who has exceeded all expectations for meritorious contributions to the advancement of the respiratory care profession and to the AARC. This year’s honoree is leading respiratory care researcher Richard Branson MS RRT FAARC.
Our 2011 keynote address followed the awards ceremony, with patient advocate Grace Anne Dorney Koppel sharing her journey with COPD and how pulmonary rehabilitation saved her life. “For me, until the cure is here, the gospel of COPD is that other than our medications, our best hope is to teach, to inspire and to rehabilitate, to give those who have lung disease the motivation to persevere,” said Koppel. “We have a shared mission with the AARC—improving the quality of life of all who have lung disease.”
Awards Ceremony honors top performers
Saturday’s Awards Ceremony honored the following 2011 top performers in the AARC, ARCF, NBRC, and CoARC. Please join us in congratulating them on their well-deserved honors.
- Jimmy A. Young Medal: Richard Branson RRT FAARC
- NBRC/AMP William W Burgin Jr MD Education Recognition Award: Christin Nott RRT
- NBRC/AMP Robert M Lawrence MD Education Recognition Award: Donovan Peace
- William F Miller MD Postgraduate Education Recognition Award: Carl Hinkson BS RRT
- NBRC/AMP Gareth B Gish MS RRT Memorial Postgraduate Education Recognition Award: Daniel D Rowley RRT-NPS RPFT FAARC
- Charles W Serby COPD Research Fellowship: Gary Brown RRT
- Monaghan/Trudell Fellowship for Aerosol Technique Development: Maher Mubarak AlQuaimi RRT
- Philips Respironics Fellowship in Non-Invasive Respiratory Care: David N Crotwell RRT-NPS
- Philips Respironics Fellowship in Mechanical Ventilation: Thomas Blakeman MSc RRT
- CareFusion Fellowship for Neonatal and Pediatric Therapists: David Thelander RRT-NPS
- Forrest M Bird Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award: Brian Carlin MD FAARC
- Dr Charles H Hudson Award for Cardiopulmonary Public Health: Congressman Mike Ross
- Thomas L Petty MD Invacare Award for Excellence in Home Respiratory Care: Brian P Wilson RCP, EMT-I
- Ikaria Literary Award: Katie Sabato MSc RRT, Priscilla Ward RRT, William Hawk MD, Virginia Gildengorin PhD, Jeanette M Asselin MSc RRT
- Dr Allen DeVilbiss Literary Award: Elliott C Dasenbrook MD MHS, Dale M Needham MD PhD, Roy G Brower MD, Eddy Fan MD
- Albert H Andrews Jr MD Memorial Award (NBRC): Brian Carlin MD FAARC
- Dr Ralph L Kendall Outstanding Site Visitor Award (CoARC): Leann I Papp EdS RRT RN
- Héctor León Garza MD Achievement Award for Excellence in International Respiratory Care: Kook Hyun Lee MD PhD
- International Fellows: Wang Sheng-yu BS MMed, Karel Roubik MSEE PhD, Edita Almonte RRT-NPS FAARC, Darko Kristovic MD, Malak Shaheen MD FCCP
- Specialty Practitioners of the Year: Adult Acute Care, Carl R. Hinkson BS RRT; Continuing Care and Rehabilitation, Nita Cadic BA RRT; Diagnostics, Rick Weaver RRT-NPS RPFT; Education, Teresa A Volsko MHHS RRT FAARC; Long Term Care, Alex Saint Amand MBA RRT; Management, Cheryl Hoerr MBA RRT FAARC; Neonatal-Pediatric, Matthew McNally BS RRT; Sleep, Mark Eley, RRT-NPS RPFT RPSGT; Surface and Air Transport, Wade J Scoles, RRT-NPS
- Zenith Award Winners: Covidien, Dräger, Philips Respironics, Masimo, CareFusion
- Honorary Membership: Foster M “Duke” Johns III BA
- Life Membership: Patricia A Doorley MS RRT FAARC
- AARC Fellows (FAARC): Natalie Napolitano MPH RRT-NPS AE-C, Erna L Boone DrPH RRT, Felix Khusid BS RRT-NPS RPFT, Arzu Ari PhD PT RRT, Walter Furman Norris Jr RRT, Allen Wentworth MEd RRT, Raymond Meck RRT CRTT, Wesley M Granger PhD RRT, Joseph Buhain MBA RRT NREMTB, Glen N Gee RRT, Toni L Rodriguez EdD RRT, Shawna Strickland PhD RRT-NPS AE-C, Carl Hinkson RRT BSRT, Dave Crotwell RRT-NPS, James W Taylor PhD RRT, Robert Nicholas Kuhnley RRT, Gary Lee Brown BA RRT, Lois A Rowland MS RRT-NPS RPFT, Suzanne Bollig RRT RPSGT, Karen L Gregory MS APRN-BC RRT, William Stanley Holland MS RRT
The following will be recognized in a separate awards ceremony to take place during the Annual Business Meeting Sunday morning. Congratulations to:
- Outstanding Affiliate Contributor: Meg Trumpp MEd RRT AE-C, Kansas
- Delegate of the Year: John Steinmetz MBA RRT, Nevada
- Summit Award: Florida Society for Respiratory Care
Record-breaking Open Forums show us the studies
The Open Forums at the AARC Congress are always the place to hear original research conducted by and for respiratory therapists. But this year we’ve taken the concept over the top, with a record-breaking 20 sessions over the 4 days of the meeting.
Why so many? According to Respiratory Care Editor in Chief Dean Hess PhD RRT FAARC, the extra sessions had to be added to accommodate the overwhelming number of abstracts accepted for this year’s Forums.
“The number of high-quality abstracts submitted for consideration has been growing for several years now, but this year we were literally inundated with top-notch submissions,” says Dr. Hess. “The result is 20 Open Forums here in Tampa that we believe will raise the bar on how you practice in your own organizations and—we hope—raise some additional research questions as well that many of you will take back to those organizations and study over the course of the next year.”
Submission deadline for the 2012 Open Forums is June 1 (at http://aarc2012.abstractcentral.com).
AARC welcomes 2012 Corporate Partners
AARC Corporate Partners for 2012 were announced at AARC Congress 2011 and include: CareFusion, Masimo, Covidien, Monaghan, Philips Respironics, Dräger, GE Healthcare, Maquet, Kimberly-Clark, Tri-anim, and Teleflex.
All of these companies comprise best-in-class organizations interested in supporting the goals and work of the Association. The program provides respiratory care providers with information, insights, and innovative approaches to improve performance and advance the health of their patients.
Leading respiratory care researcher receives Association’s highest honor
Few people can really say the world is better off because of something they did. This year’s recipient of the Jimmy A. Young medal can. Thanks to the research Richard Branson MS RRT FAARC has conducted on mechanical ventilation of the wounded warrior and the care of respiratory failure in mass casualty incidents, we really are better prepared for anything that may come our way.
Learning through trial and error
A graduate of the Christ Hospital School of Respiratory Therapy in Ohio, Branson began working as a staff therapist in the NICU at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center back in the late 1970s when he was just 19 years old. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from the College of Mt. St. Joseph in 2000, and a master’s degree from George Washington University in Washington DC in 2003.
He traces his long career in respiratory research back to 1984 when Jim Hurst MD, chief of trauma at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, asked him to serve as his research assistant. “I learned through trial and lots of error how and how not to do research,” says Branson.
For example, some of his first studies resulted from the fact that the department of surgery received a metabolic cart as a gift. “I think the device showed up and one of the fellows opened the side door, saw O2 and CO2 analyzers and a flow transducer, and said, ‘somebody call Rich — he can figure it out.’ That turned into several years of studying the device, how to interface with the ventilators, and how to utilize the results.”
His well-known work on heat and moisture exchangers also derived from the pressing needs of others. “The introduction of heat and moisture exchangers to replace heated humidification resulted in so much controversy—therapists could not believe that such a device could replace one which included water and electricity—that investigation in the operation and use seemed absolutely necessary.”
CCATT born here
Branson’s reputation among the physicians, residents, and fellows at UC began to grow; and he was soon teaching them about respiratory care. “I distinctly remember my first interaction with Mr. Rich Branson,” says Jay Johannigman MD, who is now professor of surgery/surgical critical care/acute care surgery at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (and this year’s Egan lecturer). “It was back in my second year as a surgical resident.” They were both working under Dr. Hurst at the time, who took them along on ambulance rides to outside hospitals to bring critically ill patients back for treatment. “Rich and I would spend many occasions in the back of the ambulances and other transport vehicles, moving patients on ventilatory care from one location to another,” recalls the physician.
Those experiences served Dr. Johannigman well during his subsequent years in the U.S. Air Force, where he took the lessons they had learned and applied them to a process that eventually became the USAF’s Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT). “Our transport team consisting of an ICU physician, an intensive care nurse, and a respiratory therapist was modeled after my experience with Rich Branson and Jim Hurst,” says Dr. Johannigman. “Literally thousands of lives have been saved as a result of the examples and innovations pioneered by Rich Branson.”
By 1989, Branson was a full-fledged researcher at UC, and he also received a faculty appointment to teach residents and fellows. He has since been promoted to professor in the department of surgery and has appointments in both the College of Pharmacy and the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine.
Another colleague who has figured markedly into his work in mass casualty care is Lewis Rubinson, MD, PhD, a commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, deputy chief medical officer for the National Disaster Medical System, and internal medicine physician who practices at Maryland Shock Trauma. “Rich and I started working together around 2003 or 2004,” says the physician. “We have been partners in crime at trying to use sound physiologic understanding to inform smart but simple approaches to mass respiratory failure.”
Tradition of excellence
Rich Branson joined the AARC in 1977 as a student member and attended his first AARC Congress in Phoenix, AZ, in 1984. He’s most proud of the role he played in the AARC’s National Ventilator Survey, an initiative conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and spearheaded by Dr. Rubinson, whom Branson says deserves “the lion’s share of credit for this project.”
But his long association with Respiratory Care, where he now serves as deputy editor, ranks high on the list as well. “I am very proud of the success of Respiratory Care,” he says. “For years, it seemed like a dozen of us or so propped up the Journal in our quest to achieve greater things. Now, the quality and volume of manuscripts are amazing.”
“I first met Rich about 1985,” says Journal Editor in Chief Dean Hess PhD RRT FAARC. “He was working on a book and asked me to contribute. When I became editor in chief, I appointed him my deputy editor. He is now an integral member of the Journal’s leadership team, and I value very much his contribution.”
Fellow editorial board member Robert Chatburn, MHHS, RRT-NPS, FAARC, says his long-time friend’s contributions to the science of respiratory care will ensure his legacy—but so will the people he has touched along the way. “Rich has made great contributions to the science of device evaluations, particularly in the area of mechanical ventilation and humidity…but perhaps his most significant contribution is the people he has mentored. They will carry on the tradition of excellence that we depend on for our continued existence as an academically oriented health care profession.”
Editor’s Note: This article was excepted from the article on Rich Branson that appeared in the September issue of AARC Times.
Thank you ARCF reviewers!
Every year the American Respiratory Care Foundation bestows a host of honors and awards on deserving members of the profession during the Awards Ceremony that kicks off the Congress, and this year was no exception. Now it’s time to say a special thanks to all the folks who reviewed all the applications over the past year—without their hard work and dedication, the ARCF awards would not be possible.
Charlie Brooks MEd RRT FAARC
Doug Gardenhire EdD RRT-NPS
Erna Boone MEd RRT
Catherine Kenny PhD RRT
Debbie Patten BSRT RRT
Diana Mintzlaff RRT
Pat Munzer MS RRT FAARC
Mary Pat Dusing RRT-NPS
Georgianna Sergakis PhD RRT CTTS
Teresa Volsko MHS RRT FAARC
Thomas Blackson RRT
Joseph Buhain MBA RRT
Dennis Wissing PhD RRT FAARC
Brian Parker MPH RRT-NPS RPFT
Joe Lavios BS RRT
Tim Op’t Holt EdD RRT FAARC
Jose Rojas PhD RRT
George Garcia MBA RRT-NPS RPFT
Sharon Hatfield PhD
Charity Bowling MA RRT
Lesa Bozek MS RRT
Jerry Alewine RRT
Jody Lester MA RRT
Deanna Raper RRT
Ann Cuccia BS RRT-NPS RPFT
Balbir Sidhu RRT
Mary Lou Guy MBA RRT
Robyn Urlacher BS RRT
Douglas Masini EdD RRT-NPS FAARC
Cynthia White BA RRT-NPS FAARC
Albert Ayotte MBA RRT
Edward Moser MBA RRT
John Conrad BS RRT-NPS
Jim Allen EdD RRT
Shawna Strickland PhD RRT-NPS AE-C
Jennifer Keely BHS RRT
Kerry George MEd RRT FAARC
Jeffrey Ludy EdD RRT
Cynthia Pernell CRT
Jody Kosanke MEd RRT-NPS
Brenda Batts MPH RRT-NPS
Robert Tralongo MBA RRT-NPS CPFT
Richard Wettstein MEd RRT
Gary Kauffman MPA RRT FAARC
Sarah Varekojis PhD RRT
Bradley Franklin RRT
Laverne Yousey RRT
Robert Joyner Jr PhD RRT FAARC
Randy De Kler MS
Helen Sorenson MS RRT FAARC
Kathy Miller RRT
Jeanne Potter RRT
What is an “FAARC”?
You’ve probably seen it listed behind the name of an influential RT—the “FAARC”? But just what does that mean?
“FAARC” stands for “Fellow of the American Association for Respiratory Care” and is a prestigious designation awarded to health care professionals who have gone above and beyond in some aspect of our profession. The program was started in 1999 to recognize top performers who may not qualify for other honors and awards yet have distinguished themselves as leaders in respiratory care. We inducted another 21 members into this prestigious group during the Awards Ceremony held on Saturday morning.
How does one get into the running for an “FAARC”? Earlier this year, the AARC revised the criteria for nominating a member for the designation:
- The first change increases the time of AARC membership required of nominees from 5–10 consecutive years at the time of nomination.
- The second change requires that nominations for FAARC can now only be submitted by someone previously inducted as a Fellow of the AARC whose membership remains in good standing.
- The third change is that once inducted, Fellows of the AARC must keep their AARC membership current.
- The final revision changed the deadline for receipt of nominations for Fellow status from August 31 to July 30. The nomination must be postmarked no later than July 26.
The revised FAARC criteria, nominating forms, and directions can be found at AARC.org.
Find award info here
Those who attended the Awards Ceremony on Saturday morning got to see many of their colleagues accept well-deserved honors for work they have done in the areas of scholarship and research.
Most of these awards are given every year by the American Respiratory Care Foundation, and you can learn more about all of them—and how to apply, if you feel you are eligible—right online at www.ARCFoundation.org. So click over and see what’s available, then consider if you’d like to apply for one or more of these honors in 2012.
