The National Transportation Safety Board is shining a spotlight on sleep apnea. On Tuesday, the Board sent letters to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (the organization that regulates bus and truck safety) and the U.S. Coast Guard recommending that all ship pilots, truck drivers, and bus drivers undergo mandatory testing for sleep apnea. The letters mentioned accidents that were influenced by sleep apnea:
• May 2008: A trolley operator believed to have suffered from OSA collided with another train in Newton, MA.
• January 2008: A bus driver with sleep apnea crashed on a mountain in Utah, killing 9 people and injuring 43 others.
• July 2000: A tractor-trailer driver with sleep apnea crashed into a Tennessee Highway Patrol vehicle on Interstate 40. The state trooper driving the vehicle was killed and another driver was seriously injured.
• June 1995: A cruise ship pilot grounded his ship in Alaska’s Inside Passage. The ship was carrying 2,200 people at the time.
This past summer, the NTSB sent a similar letter to the FAA. In fact, in a recent situation that supports the NTSB’s case, pilot fatigue is believed to have caused an Oct. 21 incident in which a Northwest pilot overshot his final destination of Minneapolis by 150 miles before responding to air traffic controllers.
By drawing attention to the danger of untreated OSA, the NTSB is helping us all lead safer lives. Whenever a driver, pilot, or ship captain with undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea takes to the road, sky, or sea, we are all at risk. But the dangers of OSA extend to the entire population, not just transportation workers. Take this Sleep Apnea Risk Survey to determine whether you may be at risk for sleep apnea. It might save your life- or someone else’s!
Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NTSB_SLEEP_APNEA?SITE=WABEL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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