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While dormant for a while the Truckers for a Cause Chapter of A.W.A.K.E. will be holding its first conference call of 2012. Saturday January 21, 2012 at 12:00 PM Centeral time.

The speaker will be Ed Grandi, Executive Director of the American Sleep Apnea Association.

In December 2011 the FMCSA Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) met in joint session with the Medical Review Board (MRB) to make preliminary practical reccomendations. There will be a follow-up joint meeting in early January before this conference call. In prepartion for these meetings the American Sleep Apnea Association hosted the Sleep Apnea Multi-Modal Conference which brought together medical experts and regulators from the FMCSA, Federal Rail Authority, and Coast Guard. Discussions and presentations on sleep apnea related medical requirements for all DOT agencies were part of this conference.

Come hear one of the people actively involved with representing patients with sleep apnea to these different groups.

Conference call number has changed. Call 209-647-1600 access code is: 128704. The only cost would be whatever your cell phone carrier charges you for a normal call.

The November meeting of the Truckers for a Cause Chapter of A. W. A. K. E. will be Monday November 22, 2010 at 7:00 PM Central time.

The topic will be Oral appliances for treating sleep apnea. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The speaker will be Dr. Barbara Phillips, Professor of Medicine, at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine. Dr. Phillips was a member of the FMCSA Medical Review board when it developed the Sleep Apnea guidelines. She is recognized nationwide as an expert on Sleep Apnea in Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators.

Oral appliances are a mouthpiece like device to keep your airway open when you sleep. They are often used when someone can not adjust to a CPAP machine or its mask. There have been efforts to sell these to professional drivers which have included articles in trucking industry publications.

There are issues around meeting FMCSA Medical Certification guidelines for a DOT Medical Card when using an oral appliance.

Come hear one of the doctors who developed the guidelines for medical examiners discuss the issues around oral appliances for professional drivers. Hear what we have learned from truck drivers currently using oral appliances.

The conference call number is (712) 432 – 5015 access code of 350926. The only cost would be whatever your cell phone carrier charges you for a normal call.

The October meeting of the Truckers for a Cause Chapter of A. W. A. K. E. will be Monday October 18, 2010 at 7:00 PM Central time.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be on the NBC prime time TV show “Biggest Loser”?

How do the struggles and issues the contestants deal with match what we as over the road drivers deal with on a regular basis?

Sean Algaire from season 8 of the show will talk about what it’s been like. Sean found out he had severe sleep apnea as part of the medical screening for the show. He started on his CPAP while at the ranch where contestants are filmed.

Hear how getting his sleep apnea treated changed his life along with getting a taste of being on a network TV show.

If you have not been tested for sleep apnea yet and just want to learn more about it, this would be a good meeting to call in and listen.[Pam Minkley] Pam Minkley RRT, RPSGT who works with the BL cast through the diagnosis and treatment of their obstructive sleep apnea will be available as always for clinical questions.

Otherwise watch Biggest Loser Tuesday’s on NBC at 7:00 central.

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

If you need additional information please 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 September meeting of the Truckers for a Cause Chapter of A. W. A. K. E. will be Monday September 20, 2010 at 7:00 PM Central time.  This is a rescheduled meeting from August that was due to a technical difficulty.

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.