DECATUR - Some were on oxygen and others used walkers, but area residents living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, braved Wednesday's rainy, nasty weather to attend the Language of Lungs health fair, held at the Knights of Columbus hall in honor of World COPD Day.

The fair featured health screenings and information for people living with the condition.

MaryLou Duron, COPD project director and educator for St. Mary's Hospital, said Wednesday's event was a success from the steady stream of attendees to the participation of the sponsoring community agencies.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is vastly undiagnosed, and there are many people living with it who don't come forward and seek help and support, Duron said.

"It ties in perfectly with every part of our mission," she said. "� We consider ourselves a hospital without walls, so we want to work out in the community."

St. Mary's reached out to the American Lung Association, Community Health Improvement Center, CSL Behring and Decatur Weed and Seed. The Macon County Health Department originally had signed on as a partner but had to shift gears due to the H1N1 flu situation.

Julie Day, a St. Mary's registered nurse, said one of the aims of Wednesday's fair was to educate patients and the public about the causes and symptoms of COPD.

"Our goal is eventually no one will come into the ER and that'll be the first time they hear that they have COPD, that they'll have heard it with a primary care physician," Duron said.

Said Day: "Early treatment and outpatient treatment, daily treatment is the key to keeping a COPD patient breathing better and breathing easy and not having these exacerbations that cause them so much trouble."

Lori Younker, American Lung Association program director, said the health fair was one of only a couple of events going on statewide to recognize World COPD Day, which started in 2002. But events such as Wednesday's help spread the word about resources available to those with COPD.

"I think with Smoke-Free Illinois, with some of the key issues that have occurred over the last few years, there is more awareness behind COPD, knowing that over 80 percent of the patients are smokers," Younker said.

Although the association tries to avoid the stigma of smoking and simply help people dealing with the disease, the statistic stands out, she said.

Teresa Sekimi, a registered nurse in the pulmonary clinic at St. Mary's, said the event was a learning experience for a lot of those who attended.

"It just opens people's eyes to really see the aspect of what an impact this can have on people's lives," she said.

A follow-up health fair will be held in early April for those who would like to track their results and people who didn't make it to Wednesday's event.

agetsinger@herald-review.com|421-6968