Susan Resetar has a passion for patient education that is fueling her plans to launch a brand new Respiratory Rally in Prescott this summer.

Susan is a COPD Coalition member with nearly 40 years of experience as a respiratory therapist. Currently, she is a Home Oxygen Coordinator for the Northern Arizona Veterans Medical Center in Prescott. She moved to Prescott in 2005 to be closer to her father, who was struggling with COPD and COPD complications.

"Watching (my) mom care for him was unlike anything else. You can read about (COPD), you can talk about it, but until you experience it, you really don't understand the implications it can have," Susan said.

Now, she is responsible for the oxygen needs of 800 American veterans. Through her profession she is able to realize her personal goal to help people learn more about lung disease.

"There's something that needs to be done for the community to awaken and enlighten them," she said, after expressing her concern over the lack of COPD awareness.

After she attended the COPD Coalition's quarterly meeting in Flagstaff last year, Susan said heard for the first time about the Respiratory Rallies in Phoenix and Tucson.

"The seeds were planted in August," she said, adding she immediately knew she wanted to coordinate a similar event in Prescott.

She set out to recruit a planning committee, which now has 12 members, including medical professionals and COPD patients.

"It's so important to have patients on the committee," she said. "This rally is for them."

The tentative date for the first Prescott Respiratory Rally is May 15, 2010 and is to be held on the VA campus. She said the event is starting out smaller than the programs in Phoenix and Tucson, but promises it will be a good start.

Anyone interested in volunteering or making a donation toward the Prescott Respiratory Rally can contact Mary Kurth at the American Lung Association in Arizona at 602.258.7505.