American Heart Association
The American Heart Association grew out of a set of smaller precursor groups. The primary precursor was the Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease, formed in New York City in 1915, to study whether patients with heart disease could safely return to work. Several similar organizations formed or evolved in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago in the 1920s. Recognizing the need for a national organization to share research and promote findings, the American Heart Association was formed in 1924 by six cardiologists representing several of these precursor groups.
American Association for Respiratory Care
The University of Chicago Hospital forms the Inhalation Therapy Association (ITA) in 1946 and in 1947 the ITA is chartered as a non-profit entity in the state of Illinois.
The ITA was renamed American Association of Inhalation Therapists (AAIT) in 1954, and changed its name again in 1966 to American Association of Inhalation Therapy (still AAIT).
The AAIT was renamed the American Association of Respiratory Therapy (AART) in 1973 and finally took the current name of American Association of Respiratory Care in 1986.