Respiratory Care

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Respiratory Care

• Who, What, Where, When?

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Mission Statement

• The American Association for Respiratory Care
  (AARC) will continue to be the leading national
  and international professional association for
  respiratory care. The AARC will encourage and
  promote professional excellence, advance the
  science and practice of respiratory care, and
  serve as an advocate for patients, their
  families, the public, the profession and the
  respiratory therapist.

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Timeline

• 1943 Edward R. Levine, MD, establishes a
  primitive inhalation therapy program using
  on-the-job trained technicians to manage
  post-surgical patients at Michael Reese Hospital
  in Chicago.
• July 13, 1946 Dr. Levines students and other
  interested doctors, nurses, and oxygen orderlies
  meet at the University of Chicago Hospital to
  form the Inhalation Therapy Association (ITA).

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• March 16, 1954 The ITA is renamed the American
  Association of Inhalation Therapists (AAIT).
• 1956 The AAIT begins publishing a science
  journal, Inhalation Therapy (now RESPIRATORY
  CARE)
• October 1957 The AAIT, AMA, American College of
  Chest Physicians, and American Society of
  Anesthesiologists jointly adopt the Essentials
  for an Approved School of Inhalation Therapy
  Technicians the Essentials begin a three year
  trial period.
• 1960 The American Registry of Inhalation
  Therapists (ARIT) is formed to oversee a new
  examination leading to a formal credential for
  people in the field.
• November 18, 1960 The ARIT administers the first
  Registry exams in Minneapolis.

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• October 8, 1963 The Board of Schools of
  Inhalation Therapy Technicians is formed in
  Chicago.
• 1969 The AAIT launches the Technician
  Certification Program to offer a credential to
  people working in the field who do not qualify to
  take the Registry exams.
• January 9, 1970 The Board of Schools of
  Inhalation Therapy Technicians becomes the Joint
  Review Committee for Respiratory Therapy
  Education (JRCRTE).
• 1973 The AAIT becomes the American Association
  for Respiratory Therapy (AART).

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• 1974 The professions two credentialing programs
  merge into the National Board for Respiratory
  Therapy (NBRT) the AAIT forms the American
  Respiratory Therapy Foundation (ARTF) to support
  research, education, and charitable activities in
  the profession.
• 1982 California passes the first modern
  licensure law governing the profession of
  respiratory care President Ronald Reagan
  proclaims the first National Respiratory Care
  Week.

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• 1986 The AART becomes the American Association
  for Respiratory Care (AARC) the ARTF becomes the
  American Respiratory Care Foundation (ARCF) the
  NBRT becomes the National Board for Respiratory
  Care (NBRC).

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• 1998 The JRCRTE evolves into the Committee on
  Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC).
• 2004 Vermont becomes the 48th state to pass a
  licensure or other legal credentialing law
  governing the profession of respiratory care,
  effectively bringing legal credentialing to all
  48 contiguous states.
• The AARCs 52nd International Respiratory
  Congress is scheduled for December 47 in Las
  Vegas, Nevada.
• The future? Hawaii and licensure?

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• AARC, the national organization
• 50 state societies (charter affiliates) and
  Puerto Rico
• Sponsoring Organizations
• The AARC is sponsored by the American Thoracic
  Society, the American College of Chest
  Physicians, and the American Society of
  Anesthesiologists.

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• The National Board for Respiratory Care, the
  body that administers nationally recognized
  credentialing examinations for respiratory
  therapists and other allied health practitioners.
• Advocacy
• The AARC interacts with local, state, and federal
  government on public policies that affect our
  patients and our members. From Tobacco Settlement
  monies, to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement
  issues, to health-care reform proposals, the AARC
  keeps Congress, state, and local policymakers
  up-to-date on the issues that are important to
  patient care and respiratory practice.

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• More than 30 years of the profession in Hawaii
• Small group of LPNs at Kuakini were initially
  recruited to become inhalation therapists
• gt300 practicing therapists at hospitals,
  physician offices, and in home care.
• Annual education conference