The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) recognized two Vyaire Medical professionals for their long-term commitment to patients and leadership roles within the field.

The AARC is the only non-profit professional organization supporting respiratory care in the United States. Founded in 1943 as the Inhalation Technician Association, the AARC now has more than 47,000 members. As part of its mission, the AARC lobbies for legislation nationally and locally, as well as promotes professional development.

Katrina Hynes, MHA, RRT, RPFT, FAARC, senior manager customer education, received an AARC fellowship and was named Specialty Practitioner of the Year (SPOTY) in the respiratory diagnostics section. Michael Madison, RRT, senior global product manager for acute care consumables, also received an AARC fellowship.

The AARC fellowship is awarded to members who have reached a level of distinction in the professional practice of respiratory care. Fellows are nominated by their peers and have exhibited educational achievement, validation of competency through advanced credentials, research initiatives, publication, and clinical initiatives.

Hynes, who joined Vyaire Medical two-and-a-half years ago, has been in respiratory care for 14 years and is active in AARC, including five years as chair of the respiratory diagnostics specialty group. During her career, Hynes has been an advocate of improving patient care outcomes by educating students and colleagues across the globe on the importance of quality cardiopulmonary diagnostic testing. She has accomplished this by publishing 8 book chapters in renowned texts, lecturing nationally and internationally, and through her role as an adjunct professor for Mayo Clinic's Cardiorespiratory Diagnostics Respiratory Care Program semester course.

“I think most of my impact has come from empowering other practitioners,” she said. “I’ve spent my career empowering others with the knowledge and tools they need to be better respiratory therapists.”

The AARC presents SPOTY awards in each of its eight specialty groups. Recipients are nominated by one or more peers, then members of each specialty group vote on the nominations.

“Anytime you’re recognized by your peers it’s the ultimate accomplishment,” Hynes said. “To have people feel impacted by your words, or by your actions, is really a great compliment.”

Madison has been at Vyaire Medical for two years but has been a respiratory therapist for more than 35 years. His career began when the director of the respiratory care department at a local North Carolina hospital hired him away from his work as a volunteer member of the fire and rescue team. He has been involved with AARC on the local, state, and national levels and his name is on two U.S. patents for mechanical ventilation.

Still, he said his proudest moments come from helping respiratory patients return to a quality of life they might not otherwise have had.

“One of the things with respiratory patients is almost every time the weather changes it's hard on chronic lung disease patients and they find themselves headed to the hospital. As a result, you see them year after year. You get to know them and to know their kids and their grandkids,” he said. “Seeing them get better and walk out of the hospital is the most gratifying thing ever.”

In fact, the commitment to patient care is one of the things that drew him to Vyaire Medical. “That’s what Vyaire is all about,” he said. “We’re a global company focused exclusively on supporting breathing through every stage of life.”