The Florida COPD Awareness Day at the Capitol – February 9th, 400 South Monroe Street, Florida State Capitol Building Courtyard – hosted by the Florida COPD Coalition in conjunction with the COPD Foundation, will allow participants to ride the COPD Shuttle: Journey to the Center of the Lung, get a free spirometry test and learn more about COPD and its impact on health care costs in Florida.
The COPD Shuttle: Journey to the Center of the Lung is a 20-seat motion simulator ride that takes its audience on a journey through the lungs to witness the damages of smoking.
Spirometry testing will be offered in the Capitol Rotunda for elected officials, staff, agency employees and any member of the public. The goal is to identify at-risk individuals and provide additional follow up information and referral. The tests will demonstrate the importance and ease of checking lung function.
“We’re pleased to co-host this event to generate awareness of COPD in the State of Florida as Florida has one of the highest per capita prevalence of COPD in the nation,” John W. Walsh, President and Co-Founder of the COPD Foundation, says. “With more than half of individuals with COPD, symptomatic but undiagnosed, the importance of screening and spirometry testing at this event is paramount.”
“With COPD moving to the third leading cause of death 12 years earlier than projected, it is critical that the Legislature take a leadership role and create awareness to all the citizens in Florida in making certain that all Floridians over 40 be screened for COPD and referred for testing if they are deemed to be at risk,” he says. “It is time to reduce the burden of this debilitating, chronic disease.”
Attendees from throughout Florida will have the opportunity to meet with their elected officials and discuss COPD data collection needs and COPD proposed legislation.
Date: February 9th
Time: 9AM to 4PM, Free Spirometry Testing 10AM to 2PM at the Capitol Rotunda
Location: Florida State Capitol Building Courtyard, 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32399