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Ventilator-Assisted Living^©

Summer 2003, Vol. 17, No. 2

ISSN 1066-534X

Ventilator-Assisted Living is available with Membership.

Published quarterly in March, June, September and December.
Edited by Joan L. Headley (director@post-polio.org).

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Read selected articles from this issue ...

Welcome to Ventilator-Assisted Living ...

Getting Used to Noninvasive Bilevel Pressure Ventilation
Louie Boitano, MS, RRT, Northwest Assistive Breathing Center, Pulmonary Clinic, University of Washington, Seattle

Adolescence: Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Care
Howard B. Panitch, MD, and Cherie DeBrest, MSS, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Home Mechanical Ventilation in the Netherlands
Mike Kampelmacher, MD, PhD, Centre for Home Mechanical Ventilation, University Medical Centre, Utrecht

DMD Pioneers
Jeff McAllister

Happily Using Bilevel Pressure Ventilation
John Molini

Potpourri: Equipment Problems, Living with ALS

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Welcome to Ventilator-Assisted Living ...
the new name for the newsletter of the International Ventilator Users Network (IVUN).
It reflects a reorganization of the umbrella organization, Gazette International Networking Institute (GINI), which also has a new name, Post-Polio Health International (PHI).

The mission of Post-Polio Health International is “to enhance the lives and independence of polio survivors and home mechanical ventilator users by promoting education, networking, and advocacy among these individuals and health care providers.”

The President of the PHI Board of Directors, Frederick M. Maynard, MD, stated, “Well-managed organizations periodically evaluate themselves to make sure they are fulfilling their mission. The Board undertook a strategic planning process to determine how our organization could more effectively meet the needs of the people we serve. We knew our founder, Gini Laurie, would have agreed.”

Laurie’s volunteer experiences in a polio respiratory ward in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1950s led her to found the organization that, 45 years later, continues to work for and with ventilator users and polio survivors. “Historically, the first ventilator users were polio survivors who used iron lungs. Now, a growing number of people with a variety of conditions use home mechanical ventilation,” said Maynard.

Throughout the strategic planning process, PHI reaffirmed its commitment to home mechanical ventilation users. Elements of the strategic plan include developing a membership structure to strengthen the organization’s advocacy role in ventilator users’ issues and forming alliances with other organizations that have compatible goals and philosophies to further PHI’s mission.

Current newsletter subscribers are automatically Members. (See "Membership Benefits and Order Form.")

“We ask our new Members to encourage others – ventilator users, respiratory health professionals, ventilator equipment manufacturers and distributors – to join us,” said Maynard. “By becoming Members, they, too, can support our causes and contribute to the legacy of a truly unique organization.”

GINI Is Now Post-Polio Health International: Our Names Through The Years
1960	International Iron Lung Polio Assistance, Inc.
1964	Iron Lung Polios and Multiplegics, Inc.
1970	Rehabilitation Gazette, Inc.
1983	Gazette International Networking Institute, Inc.
1985	Doing business as International Polio Network
1987	Doing business as International Ventilator Users Network
2003	Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network

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