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The August meeting of the Truckers for a Cause Chapter of A. W. A. K. E. will be Monday August 16, 2010 at 7:00 PM Central time.

Peter Berg from the Great Lakes Disability Advocacy Network will be discussing the Americans with Disabilities Act and how it applies to truck drivers with sleep apnea.

Understanding the basics of how the ADA law works will help you decide if something might be a violation of the ADA. The ADA prohibits discrimination in employment and requires employers and many parts of government to make what are called reasonable accommodations for anyone with a covered disability.

After giving a basic overview of the ADA Peter will cover questions like:

Can a motor carrier refuse to hire me just because I have sleep apnea?

Can a motor carrier fire me just because I have sleep apnea?

If I need to have an inverter wired into the truck for a CPAP does the motor carrier have to do that? (Is that a “reasonable accommodation”?)

In trucking we have lots of regulations we need to obey. There are regulations that are designed to protect us also. Come and be part of this conference call meeting to learn about one such law the ADA.

The conference call number is (712) 432 – 5015 access code of 350926.

If you can’t remember or write it down now… check the Dave Nemo show site, awake.truckersforacause.com , or call the TFAC- A. W. A. K. E. information line (337) 513-4543.

The Truckers for a Cause Chapter of A. W. A. K. E. is a patient support group for truck drivers with sleep apnea. It is part of the nationwide network of support groups organized by the American Sleep Apnea Association.

The July meeting of the Truckers for a Cause chapter of A. W. A. K. E. will be Monday July 19, 2010 at 7:00 PM Central time.

Dr. Rochelle Goldberg , President of the Board of the American Sleep Apnea Association  will be discussing the topics of interest to drivers that came up at the Sleep Apneain Trucking Conference in Baltimore last May. Topics at the conference included legal issues, the lack of research on sleep apnea related truck accidents, screening and sleep apnea testing.

The American Sleep Apnea Association is the national sleep apnea patient support organization the Truckers for a Cause chapter of A. W. A. K. E. is affiliated with.

Because so any of you have been calling in on the conference calls, we have had to switch to a new higher capacity conference call number.

The NEW conference call number is (712) 432-5015 same old access code of 350926.

If you can’t remember or write it down now… check the Nemo show site, the awake.truckersforacause.com site, or call the TFAC- A. W. A. K. E. information line (337) 513-4543.

The Next Meet of the Truckers For A Cause A.W.A.K.E Chapter is going to be April 19,2010 at 7:00 pm. Central time.

The meeting will be hosted by Bob Stanton and Gary Hull.  The Topic for the meeting will be a discussion of what this group would like to do in order to improve the working conditions of drivers who must deal with Sleep Apnea,.  Please come and let us know any ideas or difficulties you are experiencing.

The March 15, 2010 meeting of the Truckers For A Cause – A.W.A.K.E chapter of the American Sleep Apnea Association will feature a review of the Sleep Weaver mask, which is a new type of cloth CPAP mask.  We want to hear back from the drivers who have been trying out this mask.  Although this mask was designed to be a general use mask, you may have heard about it on the Dave Nemo Show as something to try if you get irritations from your normal CPAP mask. It also is easier to clean because it can be washed in a washing machine.

Our meeting will begin at 7:00 pm. central time on our conference line 712-432-6060 pin number 350926#

The next Truckers for a Cause – A. W. A. K. E.  Chapter meeting will be

Monday February 15, 2010 7:00 PM Central time.

The topic will be power supply options for CPAPs used in the truck.

The speaker will be Sean Nichols from AIMS Power Corporation who manufactures a line of power invertors marketed through The Inverter Store.com. This will be somewhat different than a normal educational session as it turns out no one really knows all the answers to the issues and problems of powering a CPAP in a semi-truck. Sean is a CPAP user and has lots of experience in working out power supply issues but this one has all of us somewhat stumped.

Drivers…   We need your help!!!

Sean has started a blog on his web site… The Inverter Store Blog we need to hear from you about what kinds of problems you may have had with powering your CPAP. Or what exact makes and models of CPAP you are using in your truck, are you using yours on a 12-V power cord from the CPAP maker, does the 12-V cord power the humidifier, what make, model, and year of truck are you using your CPAP in, what type (pure or modified sine wave) and size inverter are you using, is it direct wired to the battery or do you run it off a cigar plug outlet, has your CPAP run the truck’s batteries so low it wouldn’t start in the morning . Take a look at his blog and add your comments on what you know about powering your CPAP. The more details the better.

To participate in the February 15   7:00 PM Central time conference call (712) 432-6060 use conference ID 350926.

Thanks for looking over our site.

The educational speaks will be Bob Perry from Roadside Medical of Knoxville, TN and Greg McDermand from Safety First Sleep Solutions of Boardman,OH.  The Subject will be a discussion of at home/ in cab sleep studies.  This will be an opportunity for drivers to talk with people who have a working knowledge of administering this type of sleep studies.

Thanks
Gary
Bob

The topic of the November meeting will be “What you should know, and discuss with your doctors about surgery or a hospital stay with your CPAP.”

The educational speaker will be Dr. Barbara Phillips from the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center. Dr. Phillips is a Professor of Medicine – she teaches sleep doctors – and serves on more nationwide associations and committees on sleep medicine than we have room to list.Drivers might recognize her name as one of the doctors who advise FMCSA through the medical review board.

She will be speaking in her role as a doctor who treats patients with sleep apnea, not as an FMCSA – MRB representative. Therefore she will not discuss or take questions about FMCSA regulations. TFAC-AWAKE will be working on getting an FMCSA spokesperson to come as a future educational speaker on that topic.

Do not miss this rare opportunity to hear and ask questions of a sleep apnea expert doctors and medical personnel pay hundreds of dollars to hear her speak at medical conferences.

Truckers for a Cause and the American Sleep Apnea Association are proud to announce the first “virtual” A.W.A.K.E. chapter. A.W.A.K.E. , Aware Well And Keeping Energized (for professional drivers that would be Keeping Employed ) has several hundred “brick and mortar” chapters, located in all 50 states and in Canada. These are chapters where a person physically attends a meeting, something that is almost impossible for a professional driver to accomplish on a regular basis. Using Truckers for a Cause and our expertise we are going to provide, at no charge other than the phone call, a “virtual meeting room” where a professional driver, or anyone who wishes to, can ”attend the meeting” via telephone. attendee’s will be provided with the same information that is available to people attending a “brick and mortar” meeting.

The mission of A.W.A.K.E. is to inform and educate. Not to endorse or to sell any product. This is also, as stated in our mission statement, the aim of Truckers for a Cause.

The initial meeting is scheduled for 21 September at 7PM central time. Guests will include Ed Grandii, Executive Director of American Sleep Apnea Association; Bob Stanton, coordinator for A.W.A.K.E.; Gary Hull, coordinator for T.F.A.C.;Dr John McElligott (the truckers physician). The principle speaker will be Dr. Mark Berger, from Precision Pulmonary Diagnostics; he is a physician who specializes in treating truckers. His topic will be “the differences between in truck sleep studies and in lab studies. Followed by a question and answer period for the attendee’s.

People interested in attending can call 712 432 6060 with access code 350926# at 7 PM central time on the 21st of September. There are no dues, charges or donations other than the phone call for the A.W.A.K.E. meetings or for membership in Truckers for a Cause. This is a free public service presented by T.F.A.C. and the American Sleep Apnea Association.

We respectfully request that you consider attending these meetings.

The following links are provided for your information if you wish:

www.truckersforacause.com

www.sleepapnea.org