As respiratory therapists, many of you care for COPD patients and support COPD awareness every day on the job. Now you can help these patients out in the wider world as well by supporting two new causes the AARC believes can have a significant impact on raising awareness of the condition and fostering better care for those who have it.
COPD: Highly Illogical
Photo courtesy of COPD: Highly Illogical—A Special Tribute to Leonard Nimoy
As most RTs know by now, Leonard Nimoy passed away from COPD last February. His daughter and son-in-law, Julie and David Knight, are making a film documenting the iconic “Mr. Spock’s” final mission, which was to educate people about the disease and what can be done to treat and prevent it.
COPD: Highly Illogical is already well underway and will feature a leading respiratory therapist who works at the hospital where Nimoy received care. But to complete their vision for the documentary, the Knights need additional funds. To that end, they have just launched a new crowdsourcing campaign aimed at giving Star Trek fans and COPD supporters everywhere the chance to contribute.
The film, which is expected to be released this summer during Star Trek’s 50th anniversary celebrations, will go a long way to turning the national spotlight on a disease that has too long been left in the shadows. For just a small donation, you and your colleagues in the profession can play a big part in making that happen.
The Nimoy film will educate millions about COPD. A Town Hall Meeting sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) on Feb. 29 and Mar. 1 in Bethesda, MD, will help to ensure people with COPD have the treatment they need to cope with the condition.
Open to all interested stakeholders, including respiratory therapists, the meeting will launch an all-out effort to develop a COPD National Action Plan. Whether you conduct research in areas related to COPD, manage a COPD disease management program, or just work with COPD patients at the bedside, the AARC urges you to attend this free event.
No one in health care knows the COPD patient better than the RT. This is definitely a meeting where RT presence at the table is necessary to help ensure the final plan reflects the needs, wants, and desires of people with this chronic lung disease.
Email newsroom@aarc.org with questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.
