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Greetings,

2023 is a licensure renewal year for licensed SC RCPs; the SCSRC is often asked questions regarding continuing education requirements for license renewal. The timeframe for the next cycle is as noted below, as well as the CE sponsoring organizations, and approved contact hours for such classes as ACLS, PALS, BLS, etc. Please note: the SCSRC is not responsible for licensure renewal in any way. This is presented as information only; any questions, concerns, etc. should be directed to the SC Labor, Licensing and Regulation department, https://llr.sc.gov.

Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP) Renewal and Continuing Education Information

Continuing Education Timeframe – You must have completed at least thirty (30) hours of continuing education in the RENEWAL PERIOD (June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2023).

RCPs in their FIRST renewal cycle after receiving their initial permanent license are NOT required to complete CME for this renewal period only.

1. Continuing education sponsorship – courses must be approved or sponsored by one of the following organizations:
1. American Association for Respiratory Care, Inc. or its sponsoring organizations
2. American Heart Association
3. American Lung Association
4. Society of Critical Care Medicine
5. South Carolina Society for Respiratory Care
6. Allied Health Education Centers of the South Carolina Consortium of Community Teaching Hospitals (AHEC)
7. American Thoracic Society
8. American College of Chest Physicians
9. American Society of Anesthesiologists
10. Accredited institutional continuing education programs:
1. Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
2. American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
2. Approved Number of Contact Hours
   

   BLS Initial	6
   BLS refresher (PHR/PHB BLS, etc.)	3
   PALS Initial (2 day class)	12
   PALS Refresher	6
   ACLS Initial	12
   ACLS Refresher	6
   NRP Initial	6
   NRP Refresher	3

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

September 6-8, 2023

Exhibitors & Sponsors: Check out the 2023 SCSRC EXHIBITORS PAGE

Hotel Information

Hilton/Royale Palms: Online Reservations Link (After entering the check-in / check-out dates, and the number of guests, click the blue search button.)

Reservations for the South Carolina Society for Respiratory Care 52nd Annual Meeting may be made by calling the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort at (800) 876-0010. Please inform the reservations operator that you are attending the SCSRC Annual meeting.

To receive the convention rate: use the code SCS for rooms in the Hilton hotel or the code CSS for condos in the Royale Palms.

If you have any questions about your reservation at the Hilton or Royal Palms, please contact the Hilton directly. If you have any other questions, send an email to program@scsrc.org.

Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort
10000 Beach Club Dr, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572

2023 Annual Conference Exhibitors & Sponsors

SCSRC 2023 EXHIBIT HALL LAYOUT

SPONSORED SPEAKER: Baxter, Carolina Diagnostic Solutions, Duke University Medical Center, Hamilton Medical, National Board for Respiratory Care

Platinum Exhibitor	Gold Exhibitor	Silver Exhibitor	Bronze Exhibitor	Bronze Exhibitor
Duke University Medical Center Medtronic MUSC	Hamilton Medical SC Tobacco Quitline/RVO Health Vyaire	Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Electromed Grifols Nova Biomedical Philips Philips Respironics React Health Siemens Healthineers SunMed/Vyaire	AMBU Avanos Medical Baxter Carolina Diagnostic Solutions D•R Burton Getinge Intersurgical Lexington Medical Center Linde Gas & Equipment Mallinckrodt Medica Holdings, LLC Medline Med One Group	MGC Diagnostics Newberry College ndd Medical Technologies Nihon Kohden ONY Biotech Radiometer America Resource Medical Group Sentec Tri-anim Vero Biotech Zeto ZOLL Medical Zopec Medical

September 9, 2022 marked the close of another very successful SCSRC annual conference; this proved to be a recording setting year for the state society with over 180 attendees, including therapists from states such as Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and, of course, all over South Carolina, students from five of the state’s seven technical colleges, speakers from all over the nation and a total of 52 vendors represented.

Len Geiger from Jacksonville, Florida presented a lecture about his experiences with having Alpha1 Antitrypsin deficiency and where that took on a road to a double lung transplant. Many in the audience were moved to tears and have asked to have him come to all of our conferences.

Jim Damron gave a lecture about Prescribing Suicide, which proved to be thought provoking; he was also a favorite among those in attendance.

These are only two of the highly rated lectures that were presented at the conference.

The Brief Tobacco Intervention training program that has been a project/partnership with SC DHEC for the past two years was also rolled out; this training program offers one hour of CRCE free to AARC/SCSRC members and is $10 for non-AARC members. Ms. Katy Wynne, with the SC DHEC Tobacco Quitline, presented a lecture on “Evidence That Supports Clinical Intervention with Patients Who Smoke or Vape” as a part of this roll out.

The RT students had their own half day break out sessions where they spent time with representatives from different vendor companies, including Vapotherm, Carolina Diagnostics Solutions, Sentec, to name a few, and Duke University Medical Center. This was held in the Dunes Ballroom of the Hilton hotel, with amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean surrounding them.

The celebration dinner, with a Halloween theme, was held on Wednesday evening, with the costume contest winners being announced the following day; congratulations to all on your creativity!

The exhibit hall was well attended; the Program Committee heard over and over from the exhibitors in attendance that our exhibit hall is the best in the region!

The annual business meeting was conducted on Wednesday afternoon, where the results of the election were announced; congratulations to all and we look forward to working with you in the new year of 2023. Mr. Wayne Barfield, one of delegates to the AARC’s House of Delegates, was the recipient of the 2022 President’s Award. Mr. Mike Bianchi, the SCSRC’s webmaster, was the recipient of the 2022 Palmetto Award, in recognition of the many years of commitment and value he has brought to the SCSRC by managing and maintaining the website, often donating time to the care and maintenance of the website.

The 2022 Department of the Year award was given to Prisma Health Hillcrest Hospital Respiratory Care Department – Congratulations!

The 2022 Leadership Practitioner of the Year award recipient was Kelcy Scott, RRT-NPS, from the Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The 2022 Region of the Year was the Midlands Region – congratulations to directors Terrica Rice and Amanda Coffey!

All in all, it was a very successful conference; plans are already underway for the 52nd Annual Conference scheduled for September 2023! We hope to see you there!

The SCSRC Scholarship Committee is pleased to award the 2022 Early Professional Student Scholarships to the following students:

Bristow Kinsey, Spartanburg Community College, Title of Submission: “Interstitial Lung Disease”

Victoria Murphy, Spartanburg Community College, Title of Submission: “A Closer Look at Lung Cancer”

Madison Strickland, Trident Technical College, Title of Submission: “Our Patients Deserve Better”

Amaro Sunga, Piedmont Technical College, Title of Submission: “Myasthenia Gravis”

Diana Thome, Spartanburg Community College, Title of Submission: “What is Bronchiectasis and What Changed In Its Prognosis with Covid-19”

Gabrielle Vickery, Piedmont Technical College, Title of Submission: “Rare Respiratory Diseases: Pulmonary Sarcoidosis”

Congratulations for your work on this and the best of wishes as you continue your education!

What a Great Day to be an RT!

The SCSRC hosted a Respiratory Care Summit on August 12 at Newberry College to bring together clinical and industry leaders, educators, and other stakeholders to assess the state of the Respiratory Care profession in South Carolina. While the day was filled with responses from an engaged audience, we did not have the time we needed to discuss everything that was on our original agenda. However, several critical connections and valuable suggestions were made at the summit. During this meeting we discussed:

• A large majority of the attendees shared staffing concerns within the industry and what their facilities are doing to recruit and retain Respiratory Therapists.
• A representative from MUSC shared several creative tactics they are using to retain and recruit new staff members and assist with recruiting new RC students for the Trident Technical College’s Respiratory Care Program.
• SCSRC delegates and representatives from the AARC shared that everyone needs to encourage staff to pursue higher education.
• There is a great need to recruit more students into the profession
• A group from the SCSRC is meeting with the SC Hospital Association and the SC Department of Commerce on August 23, 2022 to discuss a potential partnership to create a campaign to recruit students into the Respiratory Care programs in the state. Amanda Clark, owner of Carolina Diagnostics provided some valuable leads on potential contacts which resulted in the start of valuable conversations and this first meeting.
• Wayne Barfield, SCSRC Delegate shared some statistics from the CoARC website relating to our 7 associate degree Respiratory Care programs in this state. In total, the maximum number of students that all 7 programs are allowed to enroll are 161 students each year. Looking at 2018-2020, the 7 programs together could have accepted 483 students. In 2018-2020 the total number of students enrolled in these 7 respiratory care programs were only 338. Only 246 of those 338 students graduated from a respiratory care program. So the 7-respiratory care programs only graduated about 50% of their maximum.
• How the SCSRC can better serve the state:
• Assist with recruitment of future respiratory therapists through collaboration with educational programs in this state. Ask retirees to assist with visiting high schools and hospital career fairs to recruit.
• Timely follow-up and response to offers for assistance and requests to volunteer on committees that are written on annual conference evaluation sheets
• Increase educational and networking events and opportunities ALL OVER THE STATE.
• https://www.besomethingamazing.com/
• https://southcarolina.shareyourroad.com/
• Get the RT Navigators, Educators, Asthma Educators, and Telemedicine Providers involved in SCSRC Committees and target educational and networking events for this population
• Visit RT departments to promote SCSRC and AARC membership and events
• Pursue non-traditional ways to recruit members, students, and SCRSC leadership
  Support RRT as entry-level for licensure or employment
• Share success stories about Respiratory Therapists in our state and share all the many things our license allows us to provide
• Share positive outcomes when RTs are doing advance practice procedures in the state – (i.e. intubations, placing arterial lines and central lines, performing bronchs, working on ECMO teams, etc..)
• More in-person communication and meetings
• More communication defining SCSRC, who we are, what we do, and how others can get involved
• Educate and discuss with industry leaders on what RT departments are reimbursed for versus what we really do
• More virtual CEU opportunities
• How can industry leaders and Respiratory Care Practitioners support the SCSRC/AARC:
• Advocate for the SCSRC
• Help with lobbying events
• Encourage staff and students to get involved in SCSRC
• Use personal social media to help recruit students in RC programs
• Encourage staff to pursue BSRT
• Help with supporting funding and ordering a state car license tag for Respiratory Therapists only
• Volunteer to host SCSRC BOD meetings and provide a meeting venue so we will be able to hold the meetings in different areas of the state
• Take the time to explore the different committees and needs of the SCSRC to give of time and talents
• Develop a mentorship program
• Collaborate with educators, LLR, SCSRC, and other managers to discuss what skills and therapies student employees can/should be performing to set a state standard. Share the process of employing students.
• Require AARC membership
• Support private insurance for LTAC’s
• LLR:
• There is a large influx of applications for state licenses from contractors and therapists relocating to South Carolina
• There is a need for a timely turn-around for licenses
• Is our current structure working?
• What do we need to do to push the APRT forward in this state?
• RRT as entry-level for licensure or employment
• CMS
• How can we increase of scope billable services?
• How can we increase reimbursements from CMS for Respiratory Therapists providing services and therapies?
• How can we change the opinion or image of Respiratory Therapists in the eyes of CMS and governmental officials?
• One topic we were not able to give appropriate attention and discuss: RC scope and practice expansion

Downloadable version of this article: SCSRC Respiratory Care Summit 2022 (PDF)

Respiratory Care Summit Photos