Department of Respiratory Care Services :: Expanding the Reach of Respiratory Care Practitioners

Respiratory Care Practitioners from Duke University Hospital honored by the American Association for Respiratory Care at the 54th International Respiratory Congress at Anaheim, CA.

Susan Rinaldo Gallo, RRT, MEd, RCS Health System User Analyst, was awarded Life Membership by the AARC for her dedication and service to the association over a career that has spanned more than two decades. Susan (above right) is pictured accepting the award from AARC President Toni Rodriguez, EdD, RRT. This is the second such honor for Susan - she was awarded Lifetime membership by North Carolina Society for Respiratory Care in 1999.

Susan’s service to our profession includes: NCSRC Secretary (1983-84); NCSRC Delegate to the AARC House of Delegates (1987-89 and 1991-95); NCSRC President-Elect (1987); President (1988) and Past-President (1989). In 1995, Susan was elected Treasurer of the AARC House of Delegates by her fellow delegates and subsequently served two terms.

Between 1997 and 2008, Susan served two terms as a Board of Director member (1997-2001 and 2004-08) as well as two terms as Secretary-Treasurer (2002-04) to the AARC’s Board of Directors.

In 2004 Susan was appointed by the AARC as the respiratory care representative to the American Medical Association’s Heath Care Professionals Advisory Committee (an advisory committee to the AMA’s CPT Editorial Panel). Susan’s appointment runs through 2010.

In addition to her extensive political record, Susan has been an active participant as a lecturer and open forum (abstract) presenter at AARC International Congresses as well as NCSRC and other AARC affiliate meetings.

Jhaymie Cappiello, BS, RRT is pictured above (second from left) accepting the award as Adult Acute Care Section Practitioner of the Year.

As a senior member of the respiratory care emergency department core team for the past fourteen years, Jhaymie has been an integral force in shaping the practice of the respiratory care practitioner in that setting. Since 1999 he has authored and/or coauthored more than 10 abstracts on respiratory care interventions for emergency room patients. Along the way Jhaymie has mentored many fellow therapists, helping develop in them the ability to ask a question, examine clinical practice, and translate the results into scientific abstracts that allow ‘lessons learned’ to be shared with respiratory care colleagues at the State and National level. In addition, Jhaymie has frequently been called upon to share his expertise in areas such as airway management, noninvasive ventilation and mechanical ventilation not only with the respiratory care staff but with Duke nurses and physicians in training.

Jhaymie has been a practicing respiratory therapist for almost three decades. He earned an Associate in Science in Respiratory Therapy from Erie Community College in 1982 and a Bachelor in Science Degree in Cardio-Respiratory Sciences from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1984. Jhaymie began his Duke Career in 1992 and has held positions as a staff therapist and clinical supervisor. He currently serves as the department’s Clinical Education Coordinator.

In his nomination letter to the AARC, J. Brady Scott wrote the following to summarize Jhaymie’s qualifications for the Practitioner of the Year award, “I can honestly say, without reservation, Jhaymie Cappiello defines what it is to be the very best in Adult Acute Respiratory Care”.

Susan, Jhaymie - well done indeed.