Help is needed to stop premature death in America. And Health officials are warning that smoking is the leading cause it..

Yet, thousands continue to die each year from a habit that is entirely preventable.

The Florida State College of Medicine is taking a new, yet simple approach to help curb this national epidemic.

Each year in America, more than 435,000 people are killed because of this addiction. A doctor told me since 1964, there's been that Surgeon General warning that smoking is bad for your health, yet people continue to smoke, and people keep on dying. So this new method encourages future physicians to help, in a simple approach where they'll simply show concern. - blowing into a carbon monoxide detector

Crystal Symons puffed her first cigarette when she was 10.

More than 20 years later, she's had more than she bargained for

Smoker Crystal Symons says, "I woke up in the middle of the night about 4 o'clock and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't catch my breath, I was coughing, coughing, coughing and I couldn't stop."

She continues: "I have to quit, I have to, I have 3 children that I have to raise that I have to watch grow up."

For many that's easier said than done.

But Doctor Leslie Beitsch says one way to solve the problem lies in the hands of physicians.

During medical exams and checkups, doctors ask patients if they smoke, but Beitsch says, they should take it further.

FSU Family Medicine Professor Dr. Leslie Beitsch says, "We want to have that information prominently placed in the charts so that every time you go in to see your physician, they will ask you about your smoking."

And then provide help to quit. This medical intervention technique is being taught to FSU Med students.

Beitsch says, "We'll save lives by doing this."

And it's a campaign that one former smoker praises.

Former Smoker Mary Dailey says, "I want people to open up their eyes and not end up like I am. At 51 years old, making sure you get a handicap spot, I have oxygen at home I have to use at night."

Doctors emphasize that death from smoking is entirely preventable. As for Symons, she plans to save more than just her life.

Symons says, "I'm thinking that if I can quit smoking, no...I'm thinking that WHEN I quit smoking, I will save up enough money to go to New York again for a week."

The physicians will also be trained from certified tobacco-cessation specialists to help those patients who have the desire to quit.