New York Area MTA Looks to Screen for Sleep Apnea

A fatal train crash in the Bronx borough last December prompted an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Their finding: the engineer was suffering from a severe case of sleep apnea that caused him to fall asleep while manning the train. Now the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is looking at options to screen for sleep apnea:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants to prevent disasters like last December's Metro-North crash by screening employees for sleep apnea. The agency, and the union representing Metro-North workers, said they are studying ways to implement those screenings.

The MTA isn't the only transportation organization looking to screen for sleep apnea. A number of state and federal groups are currently researching the link between sleep apnea and commercial driving in hopes of developing working policies regarding the sleep disorder and transportation employees. Airline pilots and train engineers are responsible for the safety of passengers of the modes they operate. Getting a solid night's sleep is crucial to maintaining that safety. If you are the operator of any type of machine, whether it be a plane, train, or automobile, it's worth knowing if you have sleep apnea; take our confidential profiler to find out.