Program to help truck drivers remain alert & awake over top 18 wheel
Royal Philips Electronics will be launching a new program aimed at the trucking industry with hopes of increasing awareness of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a potentially fatal sleep-breathing disorder that can negatively affect drivers and impact trucking companies.
To be run by Philips Respironics, the “Sleep Well, Drive Safe” program is designed to educate trucking company owners and create greater awareness of possible ways to reduce drowsy driving.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which the upper airway repeatedly collapses during sleep, which causes either a complete or partial blockage of the airway, which leads to disruptions in a person’s sleep cycle. Throughout a single night, this cycle can repeat hundreds of times or more, and as a result, it can lead to daytime fatigue, increased drowsiness, and lack of energy.
A research study on sleep apnea sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the American Transportation Research Institute of the American Trucking Association (ATA) found that 28.1 percent of those studied, holding a commercial driver’s license, had some form of sleep apnea.
The Sleep Well, Drive Safe program is designed to help trucking companies achieve a reduction in driver turnover, liability premiums and costs related to motor vehicle accidents due to fatigue attributable to OSA. The program incorporates five elements: Education, Screening, Testing, Therapy and Compliance.
Philips Respironics, a leader in the sleep therapy and diagnostics market, is working with sleep labs and home care providers to successfully execute this program for trucking companies.
The program’s Web site provides additional information for trucking company owners, safety directors and drivers. "We hope that this program will increase awareness of OSA and get a majority of drivers tested and treated within the trucking industry," said Chick Maffei, manager of National Key Accounts (Special Initiatives) at Philips Respironics.
"There are a large number of OSA sufferers who go undiagnosed and untreated and they present a potential risk for being drowsy drivers. Our goal is to help provide a safer working environment for truckers and, ultimately, safer highways for everyone," Maffei said.
To increase awareness of the Sleep Well, Drive Safe program, Philips Respironics is participating in trucking industry conferences and tradeshows.
According to Maffei, "At these shows, many attendees are coming and talking to us about their OSA and how they have seen quality of life improvements since using a therapy device. Our objective for this program is to broaden the awareness and communicate the positive impact that reducing drowsy driving can have for drivers and the trucking company they represent."
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