AARC.org In the News

Good Press: AARC Members in the News

June 26, 2012

Here are our latest newsmakers—

Donna Hawk
Donna Hawk

Keir Darcey
Master Sgt. Keir Darcey

Lois Drumheller
Lois Drumheller

Robert Bonner
Robert Bonner

  • Donna Hawk explains why bothersome yellow pollen from pine trees isn’t her community’s biggest worry when it comes to allergens in this article in the Springfield, MA, Republican. “The oak pollen floats in the air and is more easily breathed in,” she was quoted as saying. “And, we can be affected by trees as much as 100 miles away.”
  • The Interservice Respiratory Therapy Program, which is the only Defense Department RT program to offer members of the military the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree and eligibility for national certification, is profiled in this article on the U.S. Army website. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Speight is pictured as he learns more about how to operate a transport ventilator.
  • Master Sgt. Keir E. Darcey is welcomed back to his community and his job as an RT at a local hospital in this article in the Telegram out of Massachusetts. He just returned from a 14-month tour of duty with the Massachusetts Army National Guard that included 11 months in Afghanistan. The 24-year military veteran has also served in Bosnia, the Balkins, Panama, and Iraq, and has been activated to help out during several emergencies in the U.S., including the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in 2005.
  • Tod Kriss and his wife Lisa have gathered 700 sets of scrubs to take with them on a medical mission to the Dominican Republic next month. The couple collected the used scrubs from hospital workers after their hospital system decided to go to a color-coded system for scrubs for staff in different departments. The story was covered in this article in the Pittsburgh, PA, Post-Gazette.

    Tod Kriss
  • Christy Ginn is featured in this Q&A in the Pitt College Campus Focus for receiving the North Carolina Society’s Respiratory Care Practitioner of the Year Award. A Pitt College alum, Christy talks about why she loves the profession, noting that “I get to meet some of the most wonderful people by working within our community. I get to participate in their care, and I benefit when I see them improveā€¦ It makes me feel like I really made a difference in someone’s life.”
  • Lois Drumheller, who serves as a city councilwoman in Monroeville, PA, weighs in on a new law that is making parks in her community smoke-free in this article in the Pittsburgh, PA, Post-Gazette. “As a respiratory therapist who sees childhood asthma and all the diseases that spin off of that, it can’t be anything but a good thing,” she was quoted as saying.
  • Robert Bonner is the first recipient of a new award established in his name by the Respiratory Care Society of Washington. The honor was covered in this article in the Business Examiner out of Tacoma. The Robert A. Bonner Award for Outstanding Professional Service will be given on an annual basis.