American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. Originally formed in New York City in 1924 as the Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease, it is currently headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency.
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.