Tip of the hat to trucker and advocate Bob Stanton for the following idea, a survey that will take you through the questions suggested by the recent preliminary recommendations of the Medical Review Board as regards sleep apnea testing — such recommendations, once they become final, could become the basis for (and can be expected to influence, for sure) any action the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration takes toward a sleep apnea rule. (Provided they do move toward a rule, of course. Indications are that they will.)
More on those preliminary recommendations via this link:
Such a rule, depending on who you’re talking to, lies somewhere on the scale of being completely unwarranted viz a viz safety to holding within it the potential to at least provide clarity on the circumstances under which it’s appropriate for any driver to be referred for the expensive proposition that is testing for the condition. As it is today, it’s happening more and more and there’s anecdotal evidence some examiners have even taken the recent preliminary MRB recommendations as something of a hard and fast rule themselves — such practices are part of what’s driven the call for clarity on sleep apnea that so many have issued for a long time now.
In any case, if you’re curious how these screening criteria would apply in your case, moving through the survey below will tell you whether you’d likely be referred for testing or not, excepting those who are currently being treated for sleep apnea. After collecting enough responses, too, we’ll share results in the aggregate to determine what percentage of the population falls under the criteria or not.
