178 AARC Times October 2008

RC CurrentsIN THE NEWS

AARC Will Salute Military RTs and Veterans inNovember AARC Times

The AARC would like to pay tribute to the respiratory therapists serving orwho have served in the military in our November issue of AARC Times.

If you are a member of the military or you’re a veteran, please e-mail usnow with your name, credentials, city, and state.

We will collect the names and print a list in our next issue of AARC Times.Please e-mail your information to cathcart@aarc.org as soon as possible so wecan include you on the list. Our deadline for receiving names is Sept. 26, 2008. ■

What’s Next for Pulmonary Rehab Coverage?

RTs working in pulmonary rehabilitation breathed a big sigh of relief whenCongress overturned the presidential veto of the Medicare Improvements for Pa-tients and Providers Act and a specific Medicare benefit for pulmonary rehab fi-nally became law.

For many, that initial sense of victory, however, has turned into a string ofunanswered questions. When will the benefit go into effect? Which services willbe covered? What will be the frequency and duration of the services that are ap-proved? And what do we do in the meantime?

The AARC has developed a new document aimed at answering those ques-tions. “Pulmonary Rehabilitation” (available at www.aarc.org/resources/pulmonary_rehab_coverage.pdf) includes sections on:• The new benefit• Current coverage for pulmonary rehabilitation• CPT and HCPCS Codes used in pulmonary rehab services, as well as other

common codes pulmonary rehab programs effectively use• Education CPT Codes and Evaluation and Management (E&M) Codes. ■

▲

Respiratory Care WeekOct. 19-25

Respiratory Care WeekSM is justaround the corner, Oct. 19–25, so it isnot too soon to plan your activities.Here are some ideas for your event:

• Promote respiratory health in theworkplace and the community.

• Increase awareness of lung health is-sues in all environments.

• Honor and thank RC professionals fortheir contributions.

• Demonstrate the value of RC profes-sionals in all health care settings.

• Educate and encourage prospectivestudents about career opportunities.

A wealth of information is availableat www.aarc.org/rcweek, plus respira-tory merchandise can be obtainedthrough the Online Respiratory Catalogby selecting “Store” at www.aarc.org.

We also want to hear about whatyou do to celebrate National Respira-tory Care Week this year. So plan totake a few high-resolution photographsof your event, write a 100-word de-scription, and send to us. You just mightfind your story on the AARC web site orin an upcoming issue in “RC Currents.”Please include a cover letter and con-tact information (phone, fax, e-mail).Send submissions to us before Nov. 6

using this ad-dress: AARCTimes, RCWeek, 9425 N.MacArthurBlvd., Ste. 100,Irving, TX75063-4706;or e-mail debbunch@aol.com. ■

AARC Tımes October 2008 179

RC Currents

Throughout the year, AARC leaders andmembers of the Executive Office staff attendmeetings of the Association’s state societies,as well as other special meetings. In additionto making AARC representatives available forspeaking engagements at meetings, the As-sociation funds a special program to helpsome state societies partially pay for thetravel costs of the speakers. Below are someactivities AARC representatives are involvedin:

Timothy R. Myers, AARC President-elect• Speaking for the Hawaii Society for Respira-

tory Care in Honolulu, HI, on asthma man-agement

• Representing the AARC at the EuropeanRespiratory Society meeting in Berlin, Ger-many

• Speaking for the New York State Society’sSoutheastern Chapter meeting in Long Is-land, NY, on asthma management

• Representing the AARC at the AmericanCollege of Chest Physicians Meeting inPhiladelphia, PA

• Representing the AARC at the PediatricSubcommittee meeting of the AmericanHeart Association in New Orleans, LA

• Representing the AARC at the meeting ofthe National Board for Respiratory Care inAlbuquerque, NM

Sam Giordano, AARC Executive Director• Representing the AARC at the European

Respiratory Society meeting in Berlin, Ger-many

• Representing the AARC at the AmericanCollege of Chest Physicians Meeting inPhiladelphia, PA

William Dubbs, AARC Education/Management Director• Speaking at the Virginia Society for Respira-

tory Care in Blacksburg, VA, on charting afuture for the respiratory care profession

AARC LeadersAttend Meetings

AARC Honors the Nation’s Veterans on Veteran’s Day

As Veteran’s Day approaches on Tuesday, Nov. 11, the AARCwants to take time out to thank all of its members who haveserved our country. These brave men and women — and all oftheir fellow service people who are currently on active duty —maintain a special place in the thoughts of AARC members every-where and deserve our utmost honor and respect.

“This country owes so much to the brave men and women whohave served in the military,” says David Vines, MHS, RRT, FAARC,chair of the newly created Military Roundtable at the AARC. “In aneffort to improve communication with respiratory therapists inthe various branches of the military and the civilian world, theAARC has created the Military Roundtable.”

If you’d like to learn more about the Military Roundtable, logon to the AARC web site at www.aarc.org and click on “Commu-nity” and then “Military Roundtable.” Membership is open to allAARC members — those who have served, those who are cur-rently serving, and those who just want to honor their fellow citi-zens who have volunteered to serve our country. There is no extracharge for signing up. Roundtable members enjoy a dedicated e-mail list where they can communicate about military issues withtheir fellow members across the country. ■

Nominate an AARC Member for “SuccessStories” or “Interesting People”

Do you know an AARC member who would be a good choicefor one of our “people” features? If so, provide this informationto the editor at the address below: the member’s name, job title,place of work, city, and state; why you think they should be fea-tured; and their contact information. Send to: Editor MarshaCathcart, cathcart@aarc.org, and put “Success Stories” in thesubject line. ■

180 AARC Tımes October 2008

RC Currents

Industry Profile:

IngMar Medical

In this recent interview, IngMar Medical President andFounder Stefan Frembgen, Dr.-Ing., fills us in on his company,its products, and its plans for thefuture.

AARC Times: When was IngMarMedical founded, and what wasyour primary goal for the newcompany?

Dr.-Ing. Frembgen: We foundedIngMar Medical in 1993 becausewe recognized that as mechani-cal ventilators were becoming in-creasingly complex, there was aneed for portable, more versatile,and sophisticated lung simulationdevices for respiratory care train-ing, as well as development, re-search, and evaluation. In themid-1990s the Internet was gain-ing momentum, which allowedus to effectively pursue a “globalniche” strategy, selling high-quality, specialty products world-wide from day one.

AARC Times: Your premier prod-uct is the ASL 5000. How is thisproduct being used by respira-tory therapists today, and whatdoes it offer that sets it apartfrom similar products on the mar-ket? How are you enhancing theoriginal design?

Dr.-Ing. Frembgen: In 1999, weintroduced the ASL 5000, a digi-

tally controlled breathing simula-tor. Technologically, this was abig leap forward from the me-chanical lung simulators previ-ously available. It enabled thesimulation of spontaneouslybreathing patients with all theparameters changing over time.The ASL 5000 offers students andrespiratory therapists hands-onexperience with a full spectrumof clinical scenarios. The ASL5000’s precision and versatility isunsurpassed. It is the only breath-ing simulator for neonatalthrough adult patients, and it islightweight and portable.

We are continuously addingfunctionality to the ASL 5000.The most recent innovation is theability to interface with manikin-style patient simulators such asthe Laerdal SimMan®. You cancost-effectively upgrade SimManto a truly high-fidelity set of lungsable to simulate spontaneouslybreathing patients with a realisticchest rise.

AARC Times: Patient simulatorshave made great headway in res-piratory care schools over thepast decade. Other than the ASL5000, what does IngMar Medicalhave for this market?

Dr.-Ing. Frembgen: The Adult/Pediatric Demonstration LungModel was designed specificallyfor use in respiratory schools. It is

very robust, simple to use, and of-fers a strong visual impressionabout the impact of diseasestates on lung function. To simu-late your tiniest patients, weoffer the NeoLung®.

Our newest product is theRespiTrainer Advance, a multi-skillventilation task trainer for all as-pects of manual ventilation, in-cluding laryngeal mask airwayand endotracheal tube insertionand ventilator set-up. During theentire process, you get continu-ous performance feedback to en-sure that proper technique isbeing trained. The RespiTrainerAdvance is an evolution of ourbasic RespiTrainer, which allowsthe training of bag-mask ventila-tion by itself at a lower pricepoint (and can still be combinedwith an airway trainer).

Very popular for both testingand training is the QuickLung®, anotebook-sized, adjustable preci-sion test lung.

AARC Times: You also sell yoursimulators in clinical settings.How are these devices beingused there, and what benefit dothey bring to facilities?

Stefan Frembgen, Dr.-Ing.

AARC Tımes October 2008 181

RC Currents

Dr.-Ing. Frembgen: Even in clin-ical settings, our devices aremost typically used for train-ing, either in respiratory careor in simulation centers. TheQuickLung is popular amongbiomeds for ventilator testingas well as training.

AARC Times: How do you in-volve respiratory therapistsand respiratory care educatorsin the development of yourproducts, and why is this im-portant to ensuring they trulymeet the needs of the respira-tory care profession?

Dr.-Ing. Frembgen: We workclosely with a number of na-tionally recognized respiratoryeducators. Obviously, feedbackfrom our customers is criticalfor product enhancement, asin the case of the RespiTrainerAdvance, which was developedin response to customer re-quests for a high-fidelity intu-bation head combined withthe bag-mask ventilationtrainer.

AARC Times: What does the fu-ture hold for IngMar Medical?

Dr.-Ing. Frembgen: New prod-ucts will focus on the needs ofsimulation education and pro-vide the highest levels of fi-delity where it matters most.We will continue to fill the de-mand for respiratory task train-ers — allowing learners topractice techniques as manytimes as necessary to achievethe required skill level withoutcausing harm to a real patient.As the community of users inclinical simulation grows, wehope to be part of bringingpeople together, making itpossible to share their teach-ing materials and scenarios. ■

Writer’s Corner:Take Your Child to Work Day a Success at YaleNew Haven Hospital’s RC Department

by Ginny DeFilippo, MS, RRT

The staff of the department of respiratory care at Yale New Haven Hospital,New Haven, CT, recently participated in a hospital-wide program for “Take YourChild to Work Day.” The program was organized through the hospital’s ChildLife program and has been conducted each year for several years at the 950-bed tertiary academic facility.

The department of respiratory care is one stop on a journey through severalhospital areas. Each child receives a “health passport,” which is stamped ateach destination. The 200 participants are children of hospital employees.

Sarah Sedelnik, BS, RRT, coordinated the respiratory care component of theprogram. Children eight to 14 years of age were given an overview of what arespiratory therapist does and had the opportunity to play with equipment,while volunteer therapists educated children on how the equipment is used.Some kids experienced vibration with a vest, others manually ventilatedmanikins, and others were able to breathe on a ventilator. Younger childrenmade designer aerosol masks with glue and feathers.

Some children played “pop the cork” game. The game, built by Steve Nivi-son, BS, RRT, requires two contestants to squeeze a manual resuscitator to in-flate a container until the winner pops the cork off the container.

This was a great opportunity to promote the profession of respiratory careand to show children what mom and dad do. ■

Tim Mack, RRT, prepares contestants for the “Pop theCork” game.

182 AARC Tımes October 2008

RC Currents

AARC Member

on the Cutting

Edge of Red

Tide Research

Back in 1996 Barbara Kirkpatrick,EdD, RRT, was serving as director of clin-ical education at Manatee CommunityCollege in Bradenton, FL, when thestate was plagued with a prolongedFlorida red tide, a marine phenomenonalso known as a harmful algal bloom(HAB). Red tide occurs worldwide inboth fresh and salt water, producing atoxin called brevetoxin that can impacthuman health through the consumptionof containment seafood or, in the caseof Florida red tide, the inhalation of thetoxin via marine aerosol.

“I was making the rounds with mystudents in their clinical rotations,” re-calls the AARC member. “We cameacross several asthmatics who were hos-

pitalized and were told that the triggerfor their asthma was probably fromFlorida red tide.” That sparked her scien-tific curiosity, and she conducted a pilotstudy on the HAB in 1998 while still atManatee. A year later she had become sointerested in the topic that she left theworld of respiratory care academics to goto work for the Mote Marine Laboratory’sCenter for Ecotoxicology in Sarasota,where today she heads up the Environ-mental Health Program, conducting fed-erally funded research into public healthimpacts from HABs.

“At the same time I became interestedin the aerosol effects of red tide on theairway, another group of investigatorsfrom the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, Florida Department ofHealth, the University of North Carolina,Wilmington, and the University of Miamiwere joining together to study these im-pacts in a multidisciplinary approach,”she explains. The team of chemists,aerosol experts, toxicologists, epidemiol-ogists, and others are led by Dr. Kirk-patrick and Dr. Lora Fleming, from theUniversity of Miami. Housed in the Na-tional Institute of Environmental HealthSciences, the National Institutes of Healthstudy has been ongoing since 2001.

“For the last seven years we have beenconducting an epidemiologic study inasthmatics. They meet us at the beach

twice a year — once with Florida redtide present and once with no red tide,”says Dr. Kirkpatrick. “We do pre/posttesting after a one-hour beach walk,with symptom surveys, spirometry, andnose swabs.” The researchers publishedpreliminary results in a 2007 issue ofCHEST, measuring a small but statisti-cally significant difference in FEV1 andchanges in symptoms in asthmatics onehour after exposure. Now they’re look-ing for a biomarker of exposure, as wellas tracking changes in asthma over timein patients who have been followedsince the beginning of the study.

Dr. Kirkpatrick, who was recently ap-pointed to the National Harmful AlgalBloom Committee, a group working toprovide a collective voice for stakehold-ers in the area, says her background inrespiratory care has greatly facilitatedher research, “My knowledge of bothasthma and spirometry as an RT hasproven invaluable.”

She says her AARC membership goesa long way to helping her maintain thatedge as well. “Although I do not work ina ‘traditional’ RT role, I still very muchwant to stay plugged in to my profes-sion and the trends and changes in theprofession,” says the red tide re-searcher. “The journals providedthrough membership help me meetthose goals.” ■

Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick conductsa pulmonary function test on a studyparticipant during a recent fieldstudy.

AARC Tımes October 2008 183

RC Currents

Transitions

Michael J. Hewitt, RRT-NPS, FAARC, FCCM, hasjoined Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salis-bury, MD, as director of respiratory care, pul-monary, sleep and neurology. Hewitt, whocurrently serves as chair of the AARC’s Adult AcuteRespiratory Care Section, comes to the positionfrom Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center inHouston, where he also served as director of therespiratory care department. (Photo 1)

Michael R. Anderson, MD, has been named vice presidentand associate chief medical officer of the Office of PatientCare, Nursing and Medical Outcomes at University Hospi-tals in Cleveland, OH. Dr. Anderson has served as medicaldirector of the PICU at MetroHealth Medical Center forthe past five years and also practices at Rainbow Babies &Children’s Hospital. He is an associate professor of pedi-atrics at Case Western Reserve University as well, and amember of the National Commission on Children and Dis-asters. (Photo 2)

Timothy Morris, MD, has been namedOutstanding Clinician for 2008 bythe California Thoracic Society. Dr.Morris currently serves as clinicalservice chief for pulmonary and criti-cal care medicine and medical direc-tor for respiratory services at theUniversity of California San DiegoMedical Center, Hillcrest. (Photo 3)

Jerry Edens, MEd, RRT, has been promoted to clinicalprogram manager at Cincinnati Children’s HospitalMedical Center in Cincinnati, OH. The position was cre-ated to provide oversight for all divisional projects.Edens previously served the hospital as education spe-cialist. (Photo 4)

Michael Hall, RRT, RPFT, has been named director of riskmanagement/performance improvement at SistersvilleGeneral Hospital in Sistersville, WV.

Connie Compton, RRT, has been promoted toaccreditation coordinator at Wellmont HolstonValley Medical Center in Kingsport, TN. In hernew position she’ll be overseeing Joint Commis-sion surveys for the Level 1 trauma center.(Photo 5)

▲

1

5

3

2

4

Max Eskelson, MSHCA,RRT, has been appointedas the new manager forthe cardiopulmonary de-partment at PromiseHospital in Salt Lake City,UT. A 30-year veteran ofthe profession, Eskelsonrecently completed hismaster’s degree inhealth care administra-tion. He also sits on theAllied Health Steering Commit-tee for the American Collegeof Chest Physicians. (Photo 6)

We are looking for newsabout AARC members. Submitjob changes, awards, anddeath notices online atwww.aarc.org/transitions. ■

6

Contribute toWriter’s Corner

AARC Times is currentlyconsidering poems, es-says, and short stories forpublication in the Writer’sCorner section of “RC Cur-rents.” AARC members’submissions should beunder 500 words and con-tain a cover letter withcontact information suchas phone and fax numbersand e-mail address. Sendsubmissions to cathcart@aarc.org and put “Writer’sCorner” in the subjectline. ■

184 AARC Tımes October 2008

RC Currents

What’s in a

Name?

For most people, theirnames have nothing to dowith what they do for a liv-ing. But there are exceptionsto every rule. Five RTs whojust happen to have lastnames linked to the profes-sion tell what it’s like whenwhat you’re called relates tohow you spend your time onthe job.

Who: Mary Hart, RRT, AE-CWhat: Manager of the Martha Foster Lung CareCenter at Baylor University Medical Center inDallas, TXBeen in the profession since: 1981Most memorable “Hart” comments: My heartcolleagues say, “You should change your nameto ‘Mary Lung’ since you are an RT and care forthe lungs.” Others tell me, “You are in the per-fect business with a name like ‘Hart’ — the heartand lungs work hand in hand.”The one “Hart” comment she could do without:Most comments about my name are based onmy full name, Mary Kay Hart, which relates tothe cosmetics owner, or Mary Hart of “Entertain-ment Tonight.” The one comment I could dowithout hearing again in this lifetime is, “MaryHart, Mary Hart... I bet you’ve heard that one be-fore.” I chuckle to myself, because the characterthey are referring to is “Mary Hartman,” whohad her own TV show called “Mary Hartman,Mary Hartman” back in the 1970s.

Who: Mitchell F. Mask, MS, RRT-NPSWhat: Chief transport therapist for PediFlite Pediatric andNeonatal Transport at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Cen-ter in Memphis, TNBeen in the profession since: 1983Most memorable “Mask” comment: That I must be madefor the profession.The one “Mask” comment he could do without: Are youkidding me? If I tell you and it’s published, it will be every-where!

Who: Mary Lou McClung, RRTWhat: Respiratory critical care specialist at Good Samaritan Hospi-tal in Vincennes, INBeen in the profession since: 1984Most memorable “McClung” comment: “So, were you married be-fore you became a therapist?” My reply is “no.” They then ask,“Did you look for a man with LUNG in his last name?”The one “McClung” comment she could do without: “Hey, McClung, have you ever met McSpleen?”

AARC Tımes October 2008 185

RC Currents

Who: Belinda Huff, RRTWhat: Supervisor in the respiratory therapy unit at the VAMedical Center in Cincinnati, OHBeen in the profession since: 1982Most memorable “Huff” comment: “Did you marry your hus-band to get his name?”“Huff” comments she could do without: “There is no need toget in a huff over it!” “Don’t get huffy with me.” And, “Let’sdo some ‘huff breathing.’” I really do not mind. It’s an icebreaker in a lot of situations. Most people relax when theymake the comment because it’s the first time they haveheard it, and they think it’s funny. I just smile and go alongwith it.

Who: Joe Huff, BS, RRT, CPFT, FAARCWhat: Coordinator of respiratory care and EEG at Mary-mount Hospital in Garfield Heights, OHBeen in the profession since: 1973Most memorable “Huff” comment: A student meeting mefor the first time asked me if I invented the Huff Tech-nique.The one “Huff” comment he could do without: “I’ll huffand puff and blow your house down.” I am just the oppo-site of the big bad wolf! ■

A new study out of the University of MichiganHealth System may help explain why so many respi-ratory patients who are treated in the emergencydepartment (ED) end up right back in there so soonafter being released. Most patients, find the re-searchers, don’t leave the ED with a clear picture oftheir condition or what to do to keep it from recur-ring.

The study was conducted among 140 English-speaking patients who visited one of two EDs. Re-searchers interviewed the patients following theirdischarge, then compared ED records on the carethey received to their understanding of their diag-nosis, the emergency care delivered, post-ED care

needs, and the signs and symptoms that would war-rant a return to the ED or a call for immediate care.

Only 22% of the patients showed a complete under-standing of all four domains. Another 20% were con-fused about three out of the four areas. Despite thegreat lack of understanding seen in the study, however,80% of patients reported being “pretty sure” they un-derstood their ED instructions. Most interestingly, whenpatients were unsure about their care, those who didappear to completely understand what they had beentold in the ED were just as likely to report uncertaintiesas patients who demonstrated a lack of understanding.

The study appeared in a recent issue of the Annals ofEmergency Medicine. ■

The Case for Better Patient Education in the ED

186 AARC Tımes October 2008

RC Currents

Strange But True…

Allergic to Exercise: No, we’re not talking about exercise-induced asthma. It seems there’s another extremely rare,but real, condition out there called “exercise-induced ana-phylaxis” that causes people to have trouble breathingduring a workout. According to experts, it’s triggered byexercising right after eating certain foods, such as peanuts,shellfish, eggs, or even celery. Only 1,000 cases havebeen documented since the 1970s. (American Academyof Allergy, Asthma and Immunology)

Food for Cigarettes: Health officials are trying a newmethod to get people in a disadvantaged neighbor-hood in Dundee, Scotland, to stop smoking: Quitterscan receive food vouchers worth about 50 Britishpounds per month. The program will keep peoplehonest through the use of weekly carbon monoxide breath tests.

Run for Cover: Researchers at the University of Georgia and Emory University havedocumented a phenomenon long seen in hospital EDs — more people come in fortreatment of an asthma exacerbation following a spate of thunderstorms. In astudy involving 41 hospitals in the Atlanta area, the investigators noted a 3% in-crease in visits in the days following storms.

Ouch! Global warming has been blamed for everything from the receding polarice cap to increasingly wild weather. University of Texas researchers add one moreeffect to the list: kidney stones. Since the stones are linked to dehydration, the in-vestigators believe global warming will significantly increase the high-risk regionknown as the “kidney-stone belt” as more areas experience higher temperatures.

Not Just for Music: A Chinese scientist, who tried dragging and dropping a PDF fileinto his iTunes one day has found the powerful music program is just as good atorganizing PDFs as MP3s. Thanks to its search and sort functions, its ability to re-member a user’s favorites, and its capability to support customized shortcuts fordifferent topics and/or categories, Li Jun Qian, MD, says it’s perfect for managingPDF files of medical papers found on the Internet. ■

▲

National Health Observances

• Healthy Lung Month; October;American Lung Association;(212) 315-8700; www.lungusa.org

• Respiratory Care Week; Oct.19–25; AARC, (972) 243-2272; www.aarc.org/resources/rc_week; materialsavailable

• Lung Health Day; Oct. 22;AARC, (972) 243-2272;www.aarc.org/resources/rc_week; materials available

• Lung Cancer AwarenessMonth; November; Lung Can-cer Alliance; (202) 463-2080;www.lungcanceralliance.org

• World COPD Day; Nov. 19;Global Initiative for ChronicObstructive Lung Disease(GOLD); www.goldcopd.org

• Great American Smokeout;Nov. 20; American Cancer So-ciety; (800) ACS-2345;www.cancer.org

Web Watch

Most people have heard of Wikipedia — the online encyclopediathat anyone can add content to. Now leading medical schools arebanding together to develop a similar site called MedPedia. The on-line medical encyclopedia is aimed at the general public, but thedifference is, content here will be guided by medical experts. Inorder to contribute, editors and creators must have an MD or PhD.

Content on the new site will initially be supplied by HarvardMedical School, Stanford School of Medicine, UC Berkeley Schoolof Public Health, and the University of Michigan Medical School.The online encyclopedia is also being supported by National Insti-tutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,the Federal Drug Administration, and other government groups.Once posted, content can be edited by medical professionals.Visit the site at www.medpedia.com. ■

Hooray for Hollywood!

Thumbs up to five Hollywood film-makers for banding together to in-clude antismoking public serviceannouncements in all their DVDsaimed at the youth market that con-tain incidences of smoking. The deci-sion to include the announcementswas spurred by California health offi-cials, who are concerned too manychildren are viewing smoking in filmswithout receiving information aboutits harmful effects. Studios involved inthe effort include Paramount, Sony,Universal, Warner Bros., and Disney. ■

AARC Tımes October 2008 187

RC Currents

CDC RecommendsFlu Vaccine for More Kids

Flu season is at our doorstep,and respiratory therapists whowork in the pediatric settingshould be aware of new influenzavaccination recommendationsfrom the Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention (CDC). Specifically, the CDC is now rec-ommending an annual flu shotfor all children age six monthsthrough 18 years.

Previously, the CDC recom-mended the vaccination only forkids age six months through 59months. Children with chronichealth conditions such as asthmaare at special risk and should defi-nitely be vaccinated.

The new recommendationalso means those whose parentsor caregivers cannot afford theshot will be eligible to receive thevaccination for free through theCDC’s Vaccines for Children Pro-gram. ■

Older Pulmonary Patients in Needof Guideline-basedCare

Guidelines on the treat-ment of asthma and COPDare largely being ignored bythe medical community, re-port U.S. researchers whostudied nearly 30,000 peopleover age 45 who were beingtreated across the country.For example, less than 22% ofpeople with asthma or COPDwere receiving bronchodila-tors, and 18% had not beenvaccinated against influenza.Even fewer people with theseconditions had received oneor more lung function examsduring the previous year.

Particularly troubling:smokers appeared to be lesslikely to receive guideline-based care than former smok-ers or never smokers. Thereport was published in a re-cent issue of BMC HealthServices Research. ■

There is no doubt that when it comes to respiratory careexpertise, our members know best. AARC members representa wealth of experience in a wide variety of respiratory special-ties. In fact, one of the key benefits of AARC membership isthe opportunity to learn from your peers and pay it forwardby providing other respiratory therapists — newcomers andseasoned RTs — the benefit of your experience.

We’re asking members to take a moment to share theirprofessional experiences, war stories, lessons learned, andother hard-earned advice they’ve gained. We plan to passalong your sage advice in an occasional story in AARC Times,News Now e-newsletter, and on the www.AARC.org site.

Please take a moment to review the following questionsand choose one or more to which you feel you can offer a re-sponse. Submit your response (please include your name andcurrent job title) along with a photo of yourself to cathcart@aarc.org. Please include the words “pay it forward”in the subject line.

• My Biggest Success• My Smartest Career Move• If I Only Knew Then... (What do you know now that you

wish you had known at the start of your career?)• My Best Advice (What is the single best piece of advice you

received during the course of your career? What is yourbest advice for newcomers?)

• Lessons Learned (What has been the most valuable lessonyou’ve learned in your career?)

• Respiratory Care Motto To Live By (Please provide a shortexplanation of how your chosen motto has impacted yourcareer.)

• My Favorite Respiratory Care Moment (Why?)• My Respiratory Care Mentor (What was the most valuable

lesson your mentor taught you?)• Getting Started (How did you get your start in respiratory

care? What did your first respiratory care experience teachyou?

• My Respiratory Care Dream Job Is…■

Pay It Forward, Share Your Experience

188 AARC Tımes October 2008

RC Currents

Protecting the unborn fromthe detrimental effects of pre-natal cigarette smoke and otherforms of substance abusemight be as simple as enrollingtheir mothers in effectivetreatment programs early intheir pregnancies.

That’s the key findingfrom Kaiser Permanente re-searchers who comparedoutcomes for 2,073women who werescreened, assessed, andtreated for substanceabuse problems duringtheir pregnancies withthose seen in threeother groups: 156women who werescreened but did not ac-cept assessment ortreatment; 1,203 women

who were screened, assessed, and re-ceived brief intervention only; and acontrol group of 46,553 women whoshowed no evidence of substanceabuse.

Integrating substance abuse screen-ing and treatment into routine prenatalcare helped women with these prob-lems achieve health outcomes similarto women without substance abuse is-sues. By contrast, the risk of stillborn,placental abruption, pre-term delivery,low birth weight, and neonatal ventila-tion were dramatically higher for the156 untreated substance abusers.

“This program can happen every-where and should become the goldstandard for women who are pregnantand using cigarettes, alcohol, or otherdrugs,” study author Nancy C. Goler,MD, was quoted as saying.

The study appeared in a recent onlineissue of the Journal of Perinatology. ■

Breath Analysis — theNew Blood Test?

An article published in the July 5issue of Science News explores recentresearch into breath analysis and its po-tential to diagnose conditions rangingfrom diabetes to lung inflammation. Ac-cording to the author, breath is morethan 99% water, but about 3,000 othercompounds have also been identifiedfrom samples of exhaled vapor. On av-erage, each sample will contain about200 compounds.

Investigators, who have collectivelypublished more than 50 papers onbreath analysis this year alone, believethe technique can be honed to give cli-nicians another diagnostic test, similarto the standard blood and urine tests,to identify what ails the body. ■

Bird Flu Vaccine Swaps ChickenCells for Monkey Cells

Coming up with an effectivevaccine against the deadly H5N1strain of influenza has been prob-lematic because the chicken cellsused to create such vaccines arehard to obtain. Now researcherspublishing in The New EnglandJournal of Medicine report goodresults from a trial to assess thesafety of using monkey cells intheir place.

While the study was aimed atdetermining the tolerability of thevaccine, the investigators noted astrong immune response in peoplewho received two doses. The trialinvolved more than 250 people. The vaccine isbeing developed by Baxter International. ■

Treat Moms To Save the Kids