Three years after the Metro-North train derailment in Brooklyn, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Monday its intent to test employees for sleep apnea. The MTA board members unanimously accept this contract, estimated at $7.5 million, to test for sleep apnea in crew members after the fatal derailment in December was blamed on an engineer’s undiagnosed medical condition.
Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing stops and starts repeatedly while an individual is asleep, up to hundreds of times per night. This is caused by the throat muscles relaxing and blocking the windpipe intermittently. Left untreated, someone affected by this disorder does not get sufficient sleep, resulting in reduced alertness and involuntary sleeping spells.
The contract will allow MTA test 20,000 employees for the condition; every commuter train and subway operator and every bus driver will be screened. A pilot program diagnosed 51 out of 438 engineers and trainees with the disorder function.
MTA Chief Safety Officer David Mayer said employees will be screened during their mandatory MTA physical examinations. The doctor will administer a questionnaire to gauge the patient’s risk for drowsiness, and also check neck circumference. A neck circumference of over 17 inches can be a sleep apnea factor.
Mayer says that should an operator be labeled as an at-risk for the condition, “our employee will be referred for a sleep study.”
Once the MTA board approves it, ENT & Allergy/ Night & Day Sleep Service, Respira, Northwell Health and Catholic Health Services of Long Island will get the contract.
Larry Schwartz, MTA board member, said “We need to do the initial screenings, prioritized by looking at at-risk MTA employees, and get these apnea tests under way.”
Schwartz continued, “It’s an important way to assure the riding public that we’re doing everything humanly possible when it comes to their safety.”
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