 Since most of patients with COPD who are hospitalized initially present to, and are assessed in the Emergency Department ED, they will be recruited from this setting by the ED study team. All patients with a diagnosis of AECOPD who are admitted to the pulmonary ward, meeting the above criteria, will be screened for enrollment. If entered into the study, baseline information Appendix A will be collected at that time. Through collaborative and primary ED research activity, Dr Rowes Emergency Medicine Research Group maintains research nurse coverage for the U of A hospital ED from 07:00 - 23:00 Monday - Friday and 10:00 - 20:00 Saturday and Sunday. These research nurses act as the main recruitment source within the University of Alberta Hospital ED and this site has been a leading Canadian recruitment centre in a number of clinical research studies. Eligible patients with AECOPD will be approached to enter the study as required and informed written consent will be obtained. A Refused, Missed or Otherwise RMO excluded database will be maintained to determine the feasibility of a larger study and to assess the generalizability of the enrolled sample to all cases. In the event that a patient presents after research staff hours, the patient will be approached by the research staff to discuss the study and obtain consent and begin collection of all data. AHS data indicates that 450 COPD patients are admitted at the U of A hospital each year. Dr Rowes research team has demonstrated success at recruiting through the ED120,121, and therefore recruiting 100 patients over 2 years is feasible 