Respiratory therapists everywhere have stood strong this year, showing the world the vital role RTs serve in patient health. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the respiratory therapy profession to the forefront unlike any other time before. Thank you for all you do every day in helping your patients.
We understand we’ve lost colleagues this year to COVID-19, as a direct result of their work with patients. To honor their sacrifice, the AARC Board of Directors created the COVID-19 RT Fund. This fund sends money to the surviving families of licensed respiratory therapists who died while caring for patients with COVID-19.
ZOLL Medical recently donated $15,000 to the fund. This donation will allow us to continue to help memorialize the lives of brave RTs and provide assistance to their loved ones. Generous donations like this, are what help so many find peace in a time of uncertainty. We are thankful for ZOLL’s dedication to the health care world and to respiratory therapists. Respiratory therapists perform vital work every day, and now during this unprecedented time, they are on the front line helping to care for patients in numbers not seen before, all while putting their own lives at risk.
“ZOLL Medical Corporation is proud to acknowledge the dedication and hard work performed by respiratory therapists and honored to support the COVID-19 RT Fund with a financial contribution,” Jonathan A. Rennert, CEO of ZOLL, said.
Through the COVID-19 RT Fund, the AARC grants $500 to the family of each licensed RT who contracted COVID-19 while working and then died from complications of the disease. Two commemorative blocks in the AARC Virtual Museum, one for the RT’s family and one for the RT’s employer, will also be donated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 1,000 health care workers have now died as a result of caring for patients with COVID-19. As Thomas Kallstrom, MBA, RRT, FAARC, AARC executive director explains, RTs are represented in those numbers. Since the COVID-19 RT Fund was created the AARC, with the help from companies like ZOLL, have been able to assist 21 families of RTs who passed while working on the front lines.
Email newsroom@aarc.org with questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.
Addie Schiefer is the Content Manager for the AARC where she creates engaging content for the association via the AARC website, newsletters, and social media. Connect with her about potential stories by email, AARConnect, or LinkedIn. When she’s not working, you can find her listening to a true crime podcast, traveling to new places with her husband, hanging out with her dog JoJo, or browsing the aisles of the nearest Target.
