The 4-Day Safety Fair at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center was an overwhelming success. Between 400 – 500  medical professionals & other hospital staff members received training on  Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)  and how to appropriately handle CRPS/RSD patients.

Over 90% of the medical professionals had never heard of CRPS before.   The oral presentation varied based on which department the staff member was from and how much patient contact they would have.

Topics included:

• CRPS Description
• CRPS DIagnosis Protocol
• CRPS Prevention – Vitamin C Protocol
• Emergency Room Protocol
• CRPS Surgical Protocol
• CRPS Patient Handling – Special Concerns
• CRPS Treatments & Research

The first day of the event I met one of the employees whose sister has CRPS.  She was nearly in tears as she thanked me for being there and bringing CRPS/RSD Awareness to the area.  The department with the most knowledge about CRPS was the Physical Therapy Department. The staff in the Physical Therapy Department was excited to learn of the trials in Europe with the bio-phosphate Neridronate.  They even brought one of their patients by to meet me and learn more about the treatment so she could take the information back to her doctor as she met the same protocol criteria as the patients who participated in the study and had achieved remission.

The ER & nursing staff were shocked to discover that CRPS can affect your autonomic nervous system and that many patients are often sensitive to temperature, vibration, sound and that just even a breeze drifting across the skin can be excruciatingly painful.  Needless to say, they quickly understood that patients with CRPS would not be presenting in the ER unless they were in desperate need. A trip to the ER is akin to torture for a CRPS patient between the numerous triggers and the stress of frequently being mistaken for a drug seeker and treated as such.

Many of the clinical staff were asking for additional information and are eager to learn more. We will be returning in March of 2015 to participate in their next safety fair.