Respiratory Care Week, sponsored by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC), is this week, October 19-25.

Respiratory Care Week is recognized each year to celebrate the work of respiratory care professionals, motivate patients and families in battles against lung diseases, inspire others to get into the field of respiratory care, and spread awareness of lung health.

The AARC Web site has a list of 100 ideas to help celebrate Respiratory Care Week. A few ideas include: performing lung testing at a local senior center, hosting a fund-raiser to send a pediatric patient to asthma camp, contacting local newspapers about doing a feature on the career of respiratory therapy in the employment section, and celebrating the advances in respiratory care—by displaying an old ventilator that’s no longer in use next to new technology that is used today.

Lung Health Day, Wednesday October 22, was started in 2003 by the AARC to coincide with Respiratory Care Week. Lung Health Day provides a day to plan special events that reach out to neighbors, family, friends, and community leaders to teach them what it takes to maintain strong lung health.

A Respiratory Care Week toolkit is available to AARC members online. Respiratory Care Week products such as t-shirts, posters, and buttons are also available online.