Respironics Supports New York City Asthma Event
Participants in a three-mile march in East Harlem, NY, to raise awareness about the asthma epidemic plaguing the community met the stars of the Respironics’ Asthma and Allergy Division’s asthma care program: Zoey™, a car who has asthma, and sidekick Light Buddy™.

Harlem is one of the neighborhoods where poor air quality puts children at higher risk of asthma, according to the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.

Called the Caminar for Asthma, the event took place on September 6, the day before a new bus depot opened in the area. The East Harlem Asthma Working Group, an organizer of the event, points to air-polluting facilities, such as bus depots, and the fumes spewed from diesel-fueled buses as significant causes of the poor respiratory health of children in East Harlem.

US Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Councilman Philip Reed, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and a child from the East Harlem community who has asthma led the march as co-grand marshals. Respironics’ Asthma & Allergy Division provided financial support for the march.

“One in every four children in New York City’s Harlem section has asthma, which is one of the highest neighborhood rates in the nation,” says Mia Mischuk-O’Brien, marketing communications specialist for Respironics’ Asthma & Allergy Division. “With proper education and the right tools, these kids and their caregivers can be trained to better manage their asthma and improve their quality of life.”

Masimo Receives Two Technology Awards
Irvine, Calif-based Masimo Corp was twice recognized this summer for its achievements in the advanced medical signal processing technologies field.

Frost & Sullivan, a growth consulting company, presented the company with the first New Standard of Care in Patient Monitoring award. The accolade honors the company for “revolutionizing and reinvigorating the market” with its Signal Extraction Technology (SET®), a motion-tolerant and low-perfusion monitoring device.

“The rapid adoption of Masimo SET technology, by both hospitals and major patient monitoring equipment manufacturers, demonstrates the value that the market has placed on this significant technological advancement,” says Katherine Shariq, Frost & Sullivan industry analyst.

In addition to the patient monitoring award, Masimo CEO Joe Kiani received a platinum “ABBY” award from the Adaptive Business Leaders Organization.

The ABBY award recognizes Kiani’s “outstanding advancements to the field of health care in medical technology, biotechnology, and innovative technology-enhanced health care services.”