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President's
Message
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Michele
Andrew, MS, RCPT
| As the incoming President for 2007 I wish to address
all Respiratory Care Practitioners. It is really important to become
AARC members to help support legislation that affects our profession.
There are two bills before Congress that will affect Pulmonary Rehabilitation
and Home Care as well as tobacco control bills. We need everyone
to participate in contacting your congressmen in support of these bills
and support our PACT Committee. We will be having an expanded membership
drive headed by Rob Devinaspre and Mike Frey with Carla Edmison as Chairperson.
Anyone interested should contact one of these RTs. Our disaster Guy
(Lande Lambert) says we need more people to sign up for disaster relief. |
| Camp Super Breathers needs support in the way of scholarships.
This camp is highlighted in this newsletter but suffice to say since the
camp is free to campers, we need money to cover them. I would like each
Respiratory Care department to find a creative way to give a $200.00 scholarship.
Bake sales, donations, quilt raffle – whatever you come up with.
The Department giving the most money will all get movie tickets.
Send your donations either to me at St. Alphonsus Meridian HealthPlaza,
3025 W. Cherry Lane, Meridian, Idaho 83642 or to Kera Yost at the American
Lung Association. We also need more campers. It is a free residential
camp to kids 9-13 with asthma. It includes the WHOLE STATE.
ALA will help with transportation to camp so there is no reason not to
have kids come. |
| Plan on the High Desert Pulmonary Conference on June
15 and the ISRC annual meeting on September 13-14. |
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ISRC
Web Site
www.idasrc.org
Education
- Resources - Employment
- Meetings/Events - Scholarships
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In
Memoriam
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Shirley
Gossi Thimsen
| A pioneer in Respiratory Care in
Idaho, Shirley (Gossi) Thimsen recently passed away at age 75. Shirley
learned her trade at Boise State College, graduating from the Respiratory
Therapy program in 1974. She worked at St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise for
a short time before accepting a position with the Idaho Elks Rehabilitation
Hospital. At the “Elks” Shirley was the prime mover in establishing the
first comprehensive cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program in southern
Idaho. Most subsequent pulmonary rehab ventures in the state were modeled
after Shirley’s successes. She mentored countless employees, colleagues
and students over the years. Shirley was a strong and active supporter
of the ISRC and held several Board positions including President. She also
is a past President of the Idaho Lung Association and was a valued Board
Member and volunteer for that organization for many years. Shirley was
also a member and past Chair of the BSU Advisory Committee for the Respiratory
Care Program. She retired from the Elks Hospital in 1994, but continued
to volunteer there until 2002. |
| In recognition of Shirley’s contributions
to Respiratory Care in Idaho, Boise State has named a new endowed scholarship
in her honor. |
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Disaster
Team Volunteers Needed
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Lande
Lambert, Disaster Guy
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ISRC is still working to develop
a database of volunteers--Idaho RTs willing to go on record as willing
to help in the event of an emergency. There is already a form to fill out
on our web site. Just go to disaster_response_application_form.html.
In addition, it would be helpful if anyone that is or has participated
in any emergency preparedness programs to let me know about these activities...what
is your facility or community doing to prepare and what capacity you are
involved. This information is kept by the President of ISRC. Please e-mail
any information to me at landel@mvrmc.org. |
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Shirley
Gossi Thimsen
Memorial
Scholarship
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Tom
Gable
| Boise State University Department
of Respiratory Care has had donations over the last several years toward
a scholarship fund for the Respiratory Care program. Recently it was suggested
and accepted that this scholarship be named for the late Shirley Gossi
Thimsen. Shirley was a graduate of the program and also offered significant
clinical training opportunities for later students in her cardiopulmonary
rehabilitation program at Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital in Boise. |
| University rules stipulate that
all university scholarships must be from the earnings of an endowment and
those endowments must have a minimum funding of $10,000. Contributions
to date do not reach this level, but are close. I know a lot of our members
are BSU graduates and I urge you to think about this cause when considering
charitable contributions. This is a very good opportunity to give something
back to the field that has given you a satisfying career and also honor
the memory of Shirley. |
| If you can contribute, checks should
be made out to Boise State University Foundation, and include the fund
number, HS 077 and note on the check it is in memory of Shirley Gossi Thimsen.
Mail to: Boise State University Foundation, 1910 University Drive, MS 1030,
Boise, Idaho 83725. Contributions are tax deductible. The Foundation will
send a receipt. |
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Camp
Super Breathers 2007
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Michele
Andrew, MS, RCPT
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| Camp Super Breathers is a week-long
Residential Camp for kids 9-13 with the diagnosis of Asthma. This
year the kids leave the American Lung Association office at noon Sunday,
August 5 and leave camp at noon Friday the 10th. RNs, RTs, students and
asthma physicians staff the camp so the kids get their meds on time and
get great medical care. This year the theme is Wilderness Olympics.
We are teaching some survival skills along with asthma management in adverse
conditions. |
| All kids are free. Saint
Alphonsus Auxiliary, the American Lung Association and various other donors
sponsor Camp Super Breathers. Boise Valley Asthma and Allergy donates
the physicians. |
| Since Washington has closed their
camp in Coeur d'Alene we are trying to get kids from northern Idaho.
If we have enough we can rent a van to pick up kids from Canada on down
through Sandpoint, Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, Lewiston, Grangeville,
and McCall. We always have a bus from Boise and usually have a van
from Eastern Idaho. |
| Camp is held at Sawtooth Methodist
Camp, 30 miles north of Fairfield. It is a marvelous camp with good
food, good air and a great time. |
| For registration call 345-5864
or register on line at www.lungidaho.org. |
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AARC
International Fellow Visits Boise
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Dave
Shuldes
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| The ISRC once again had an opportunity
to host an AARC International Fellow in December 2006. Lucia He Quigjun
joined us from Chengdu, China. Nola Darling graciously offered to
serve as city host for the week, and did a magnificent job with coordination,
transportation and support for our distinguished visitor. Lucia had opportunities
to spend time at several different venues in the Treasure Valley.
A Nurse by formal training, Lucia currently serves as Educator and Clinical
Instructor for the only school of Respiratory Therapy established to date
in the country of China (population 1.3 billion). |
| The school has existed in Chengdu
for several years. The faculty includes a director (who has responsibility
for two other programs), and Lucia who does most of the hands-on teaching.
To-date the school has approximately 35 graduates that actively serve in
some local Chinese hospitals. One of the school’s primary clinical
sites in Chengdu is an approximately 800-bed hospital with a staff of three
respiratory therapists. Those “RTs” spend all of their time with
the most acute ventilator patients in critical care, according to Lucia.
The 35 graduates from their program are the only current therapists in
China, as far as she knows. |
| Lucia was very familiar with
our current therapeutic modalities and equipment in general—the Avea, Draeger
XL, and PB 840 were not unfamiliar equipment to her. She was very
interested in our protocols, pre-printed orders sets, and all written competency/education
materials. She and her colleagues remain busy back home at this point,
not only with their daily teaching but with translating the materials that
she was able to take home with her, which she requested in electronic format.
She has written back that these are very helpful in their current curriculum.
Lucia was amazed by the variety of disposable equipment we had to work
with, and apparently had a field day with the AARC convention vendors—she
needed an extra suitcase to transport home the samples! |
| Lucia had previously spent time
in the U.S., training in the Southern U.S., and spoke very good English.
She is clearly quite dedicated to the quality of her teaching and to growing
the field of Respiratory Care in Chengdu—and of course in China at large.
What a challenge and an opportunity! Next time we feel short on staffing,
let’s recall their perspective!! |
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Annual
Meeting in Pocatello
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| This year’s annual ISRC Symposium will be held in Pocatello
on the Idaho State University campus. The dates are Thursday and Friday,
September 13 & 14. The Program Committee Chair is Carrie Massey. Carrie
works both for Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls and
the ISU Respiratory Care Program in Pocatello (busy lady!). The program
is still in development but some of the speakers are John Davies, a therapist
at Duke University and an expert in HFOV, Steve Sittig, a pediatric transport
therapist from Mayo Clinic and Keith Kohutek, a clinical specialist for
Bunnell jet ventilators. Save those September dates and look forward to
an enlightening and enjoyable meeting. |
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Capital
Connection
Conrad
Colby
| Nearly two AARC delegates from
each of the 50 states arrived in Washington DC on March 4 with the purpose
of lobbying their respective senators and congressmen on March 6th.
Nearly 300 visits to congressional offices took place. A record number
of visits compared to previous years. Weeks before beginning the
lobbying, Renie Johnson arranged to meet with Idaho’s congressional delegation
and staff at specific times in their offices on the “Hill.” We presented
our issues to Senator Mike Crapo and Representative Bill Sali’s Chief of
Staff on Monday, and met with Senator Larry Craig at a reception in his
office and later with his Chief Counsel William (Billy) Cahill on Tuesday.
We met with Representative Mike Simpson’s Chief of Staff on Tuesday.
We were listened to and encouraged to some extent by what the congressmen
said in response to our presentations. |
| Our efforts are only a beginning
of what is needed to make a difference and pass the necessary legislation.
Any political expert advises nothing takes the place of individuals contacting
the legislators and congressmen from their district. Renie and I
hope that every respiratory therapist in Idaho will login to the American
Association for Respiratory Care’s (AARC) website, click on Government
Affairs, and click on Capital Connection. Now click on, “Important
issues, recent votes, current legislation,” and you will find a list of
needed congressional actions and a description of each proposed legislation.
AARC is focusing on three issues: Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative,
Patient Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Medicare Home Oxygen Patient Protection
Act. Click on each one of the three issues and read the details of the
proposed legislation. A sample letter is available for each piece of legislation.
At least send the sample letter for each proposed legislation if the time
you have is limited. It is more effective if you write a letter of support
in your own words or at least revise some of the word choices in the sample
letter. Keep in mind we support these proposals for the sake of appropriate
patient care and safety, and not to further our profession. |
| Capital Connection (email) represents
the fastest means to communicate with our Washington DC delegation.
Because of the anthrax scare, email is now a very legitimate way to reach
our delegation’s staff. Senator Mike Crapo is a co-sponsor of S 329,
the Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Act and a co-sponsor of the Congressional
COPD Caucus. Please thank him for his support on both these issues. He
is great advocate of quality pulmonary patient care. For the rest of our
congressional members, ask them to co-sponsor the Pulmonary Rehabilitation
bill (S 329 and HR 552); Home Oxygen bill (HR 621, no Senate bill yet);
become of member of the COPD caucus; and sponsor a Medicare Respiratory
Therapy Initiative. The Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative has
no bill number and needs a sponsor in both the House and the Senate. |
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Photo
Gallery
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Photos
by Tom Gable
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The February Board Meeting
was held at Cabela’s new Super Store in Boise
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Wildlife Display at Cabela’s
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AARC International Fellow
Lucia He Quigjun
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Lucia with Dave Shuldes’
Daughter, Eden (far right) and Friends
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2007 ISRC Board
(listed below)
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ISRC President
Michele Andrew
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| TJ Wing, Vice President;
Brandi Johnson, President-elect; Elena Ilyusha, Secretary; Chad Rye, Past
President; Michele Andrew, President; Carla Edmison, Delegate; Rebecca
Brollier, Student Representative; Dana Hagestad, Director at-large; Carrie
Massey, Treasurer. Not pictured: Kelly Dwello, Delegate; Greg Pilcher,
Director at-large, Nirmal Charan, Medical Director. |
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President-elect
Brandi Johnson
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Board Student Representative
Rebecca Brollier
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Lande Lambert,
our “Disaster Guy”
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Which bar are you going
to?
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Why is this man laughing?
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Happy Hour for Chad and
Carrie
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ISRC
Board Meeting
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6:00
p.m.
May
4, 2007
McCall
Memorial Hospital
McCall
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Contact
Michele Andrew for more information at MICHANDR@sarmc.org
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February
BOD Meeting Minutes
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February
23, 2007, Boise
Cabela's
| Members present: Rebecca
Brollier, Kelly Dwello, Chad Rye, Brandi Johnson, Elena Ilyusha, Mary Kimbrel,
Dana Hagestad, Carla Edmison, Renie Johnson, Michael Frey, Tom Gable, TJ
Wing, Michele Andrew, Carrie Massey, Rob DeVinaspre, Conrad Colby, Lande
Lambert. |
| Michele called the meeting to order. |
| Last meeting minutes read and approved. |
| Treasurer's Report: Carrie
presented the 1st quarter financial report from Nov ’06-Jan ’07. |
| PACT Report: On March 5th,
Renie and Conrad will be going to Washington D.C., where AARC will lobby
bills regarding the Home Oxygen Patient Protection Act of 2007, as well
as preventative care issues like self administration of MDI’s in schools
and Oregon Medicare home care pilot program. |
| Committee Reports: |
-
Delegates Report: Carla presented
HOD issues including the resolution to classify RT’s as professionals and
not technicians; this has been withdrawn. Other issues like online
voting and
bypassing CRT to take RRT exam
were discussed as well.
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Membership: Idaho is at its five
year high, with membership increasing to 10%.
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Newsletter: Tom is working on
the newsletter. Discussed the memorial for Shirley Thimsen, as well
as Asthma Camp information.
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By Laws: No new report.
Discussed whether or not a public member should be added to the ISRC board.
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| Old Business: |
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ISRC Conference 2007: Carrie
discussed the possible speakers for the upcoming conference; she will try
to get all the speakers funded. The conference will be on Sept 13th
and 14th at ISU, Pocatello, ID in the Wood River room. She is also
working on the vendors and lectures/topics with the speakers.
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| New Business: |
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Membership: Michael Frey
and Rob DeVinaspre will be the chairs of the membership committee.
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Scholarship in Shirley Thimsen’s honor:
Linda Erfurth proposed this scholarship and BSU is working on their part
as well. It was suggested that we have a booth at the ISRC conference for
donations, and ask vendors to donate a portion of their fund for this as
well.
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IDPA Invitation: The International
Directory of Professional Associations wants ISRC to be added to their
list. Chad will contact societies already in the association to get
more details about cost and other information.
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State Society President’s meeting:
Brandi will fly to Dallas in March 18th and 19th, to learn more about AARC
President’s role.
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Committee Chairs: Tom read committee
ByLaws.
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Medicare Inititives: Will be
represented by Conrad and Renie in Washington, DC.
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McCall Meeting: Will be set up
by Michele on May 4th at 6:00 pm; refreshments to follow.
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Camp Super Breathers: Michele
discussed monetary needs, marketing and scholarships. We will need
to cover Keira’s job with scholarships. We need to raise money for scholarships
since one scholarship is $200, and we want 50 campers. The kids will need
to be brought down and we might need to rent buses. We will need
to have volunteer counselors at the camp. We also discussed having
a contest between RT departments for fundraising. If ISRC sponsors,
we can get our name on the T-shirts and brochures.
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| Other New Business: |
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Student representative for this year
is Rebecca Brollier, from BSU. Next year we will propose this to
ISU.
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Coalition for Healthy Idaho:
Appointed Kelly Dwello from District 1 and will appoint someone from District
2 (Eastern Idaho), to respond to issues that come up in public.
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Lande brought to the attention that
only the President of ISRC can add or delete information from the ISRC
website. He also discussed DMAT information regarding team participation
and online website program on what to do during a pandemic. Contact Lande
to be on the team or for any other information.
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| Next Meeting in McCall: May 4th at 6:00 pm, at the hospital. |
| The meeting was adjourned. |
| Respectfully submitted,
Elena Ilyusha RRT
ISRC Secretary |
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2007
ISRC Board of Directors
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Michele Andrew (Boise), President
Brandi Johnson (Boise),
President elect
Chad Rye (Lewiston), Past
President
T. J. Wing (Boise),Vice
President
Elena Ilyusha (Boise), Secretary
Carrie Massey (Idaho Falls),
Treasurer |
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Carla Edmison (Lewiston), Membership
Chair
Kelly Dwello (Boise),
Delegate
Dana Hagestad (Lewiston), Director
at Large
Greg Pilcher (Lewiston), Director
at Large
Dr. Nirmal Charan (Boise), Medical
Director
Rebecca Brollier (Boise), Student
Representative |
Visit http://www.idasrc.org/contact_us.htm
to contact a Board Member.
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The Mountain Air newsletter
editor is Tom Gable. If you would like to contribute information/articles,
please contact Tom by e-mail:
gablet@slrmc.org,
or fax (208) 381-3498.
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