Overdrive

September 2014

Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info

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86 | Overdrive | September 2014 sleep apnea q&a examiners must get to be certified [and listed in] the National Registry is not administered by FMCSA," he says. It's administered by outside training organi- zations, per FMCSA's guidance, so the exact training materials that a medical examiner gets may vary, he says. Stanton says this variability is problematic, given the difficulty to access documents to determine what guidance on apnea is being taught and thus how to advise a particular driver. Last May, the registry finally went live, requiring drivers to use only examiners listed within it. During Rosarion's De- cember 2012 training, guidance for apnea screening specified 33 as a BMI cutoff, above which drivers should be considered at-risk. "There are pretty clear guidelines," he says, which originate with FMCSA's 2008 Medical Expert Panel rec- ommendations. The patient's "neck size is also a risk factor – a 17-inch [or larger] neck for a guy, 16 for a woman." But in documents obtained by Overdrive from a medical ex- aminer who wished to remain anonymous, another set of training materials hews more closely to the MRB/MCSAC's joint recommendations issued in early 2012, specifying the BMI cutoff at 35. Crucially, the procedure outlined in these documents called for a one-month waiting period for a driver treated with the most common method, a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, and longer for those treated surgi- cally. No conditional short- term temporary certification is specified as an option to examiners. An agency official speaking on background noted that FMCSA's brief eight-page guidance on the training curriculum has only a few references to sleep apnea. On its page listing organizations providing training to be certi- fied for the NRCME, FMCSA washes its hands of the actual content of the training with a disclaimer: "It is the responsi- bility of the medical examiner applicant to determine if the training provided by an organi- zation meets the requirements of FMCSA's regulations." With no clear-cut approach to screening and treatment, (Continued from Page 32) Southern Pride_OVD0914_PG.indd 1 8/28/14 9:05 AM Text INFO to 205-289-3555 or visit www.ovdinfo.com

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