Michigan Train Wreck Report
Catalyst for Sleep Week Forum
PHILADELPHIA (March 14,
2003) — The National Transportation Safety Board offered
perhaps the most condemning report on sleep disorders last November
regarding a 2001 train wreck in Michigan. That report served as the
catalyst for a special Awake In Philly Community Education Group
forum for transportation industry officials.
To properly address this issue, and put it into perspective
for those overseeing safety in the surface transportation industry,
one of the world's leading sleep researchers and several noted experts
will be speaking at the day-long Awake In Philly forum, "Sleep
and Surface Transportation,” on Wednesday, April 2, 2003,
which kicks off the third annual Pennsylvania Sleep Awareness Week.
Among them will be world-renowned sleep researcher
Dr. Allan
I. Pack from the University of
Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania
State Police Trooper Dean Wright; Bob Johns, Executive Director
of the Bucks County Highway Safety Program; Larry Bucci, a Pennsylvania
Dept. of Transportation (PennDOT) District 6-0 safety engineer;
and Dr. Stephen Jenner, a Human Performance Accident Investigator
in Washington, D.C. for the National
Transportation Safety Board.
The forum is slated to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
and is being held in the meeting room at PennDOT's District 6-0 offices,
which is located at 7000 Geerdes Blvd., King of Prussia, PA 19406-1525.
Travel directions to the meeting may be obtained at http://www.AwakeInPhilly.org/Meetings/2003/Apr2003/PennDOT6-0_dir.shtml.
Due to limited seating, advance registration is required for this
meeting.
Dr. Pack, director of the University of Pennsylvania's
Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology since its inception
in 1991, centers his research on sleep and its disorders, with an
emphasis on sleep apnea. During his discussion, Dr. Pack will focus on the impact of sleep duration and sleep disorders in commercial vehicle drivers.
Dr. Pack has recently completed large studies on the prevalence of sleep apnea in commercial drivers, as well as on risk factors for excessive sleepiness in older adults, including sleep apnea. The studies on commercial drivers have been published as a report of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In the past, Dr. Pack has served on the Respiratory and Applied Physiology Study Section at NIH, and from 1994-97 was a member of the Advisory Board of the National Center for Sleep Disorders Research at the National Institutes of Health. He was Medical Director of the National Sleep Foundation from 1994 to 1996. Dr. Pack is the author of over 130 original papers and chapters and has edited three books. He has received a number of awards for his activities including the Nathaniel Kleitman Award of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the William C. Dement Academic Achievement Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Trooper Dean Wright will discuss issues of drowsy drivers from the legal aspect, including what happens when a law enforcement official stops someone he suspects is driving drowsy.
Bob Johns, who's been dubbed “Mr. Roadsense" by many,
has 28 years of highway safety work under his belt, is a native of
Britain, but decided the USA was the place he wanted to call home.
While living in Britain, Bob spent 14 years in the Road Traffic Division
of the British Police Force.
During his presentation, Bob will look at what all drivers can do to be safer when sitting behind the wheel.
Larry Bucci, on the other hand, has logged the past 20 years with PennDOT, and spent 10 of those years as a traffic engineer. He's worked as a safety engineer at the King of Prussia field office for the past year. Problems on the roadway are always different, but they usually can be classified into a few causes, Larry said. One of the solutions Larry will discuss to help combat fatigued driving accidents is the implementation of rumble strips on Pennsylvania roadways. In fact, he will be presenting, for the first time, findings of a new report on the effectiveness of centerline and edge line rumble strips in Pennsylvania.
Rumble strips are those grooved surfaces alongside shoulders closest to the roadway.
Looking at things from a national transportation
perspective, Dr. Stephen Jenner will discuss accidents involving freight
trains, light rail, and maritime (passenger ship) industries, and
fatigue-related accidents in the rail and highway transportation industries.
These accidents are often the result of irregular and unpredictable
scheduling in these industries.
For a 2002 poll, the National
Sleep Foundation found that 51 percent of the nation's adults
admit to having driven while drowsy. Twenty percent of drivers aged
18 to 29 responding to the poll reported actually falling asleep at
the wheel at some point during 1999. Older drivers, 65 and older,
fare better, with only six percent of them reporting they dozed off
while driving compared to 15 percent of those drivers aged 30-64.
The National Sleep Foundation's statistics, reported in the 2000 Sleep in America omnibus poll, indicate that sleepiness contributes to other dangerous driving behavior on the road, as well.
Forty-two percent of adults responding to the NSF's study reported they became stressed while driving drowsy, and 32 percent said they got impatient. Twelve percent of the adults admitted they drove faster while they were sleepy, and nearly 22 percent of the younger drivers polled also admitted to having sped while drowsy.
“Driving while drowsy is no different than driving
under the influence of alcohol or drugs,”says Richard Gelula,
NSF's Executive Director. ”Sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases
awareness and impairs judgment,” Gelula said. “Now we're
finding that sleepy drivers are more tense and impatient, and may
even be speeding up when they should really be stopping to rest.”
NSF's poll statistics indicate there are a significant number of sleepy people in the U.S. Forty-three percent of American adults say they are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with daily activities a few days a month or more; one out of five people say this level of sleepiness affects them two or more days a week.
What's the best strategy to cope with fatigue while on the
road? If you listen to Gelula, the answer is to simply “pull
over in a safe place and take a short nap.”
While 22 percent of the drivers responding to the poll report they did just that when they were sleepy while driving, 63 percent said they turn to caffeine for relief from fatigue -- an effective, but temporary solution, at best.
Sleep disorders, which contribute to the national sleep debt, are more prevalent than most people believe. In fact, it's estimated that approximately one in every five people suffers from at least one sleep disorder. Sleep apnea, narcolepsy, periodic leg movements, and insomnia are just a few of the many sleep disorders that can, and do, rob us of the sleep we need.
The impact of sleep disorders, especially apnea, on a person's life may be many, and appear in many forms, but there are some telltale signs. While the impact is unique in each person, some of the most common areas include causing excessive daytime sleepiness, heart and lung damage, greater risk of stroke and high blood pressure, memory loss, the potential for greater involvement in traffic accidents because of tiredness, sexual dysfunction, mood swings, a decrease in productivity, weight gain, among others.
If someone stops breathing, it's always considered
an emergency — unless it happens in bed. Each night this happens
to more than 12 million Americans. In fact, it's caused by a disorder
known as obstructive sleep apnea, and more than 90 percent of those
affected are not yet diagnosed.
Researchers estimate that about four percent of
all males and two percent of all females have sleep apnea, thus demonstrating
that apnea is a silent killer, attacking while we least expect any
danger — in our sleep — and is non-discriminatory.
Attendance at the forum is by reservation only,
as space is limited. Those interested should
or fax at 253-423-7208. Reservations are on a first-come basis.
The SuperFresh
store at 1110 Youngsford Rd., Gladwyne, is helping sponsor refreshments
for the forum.
Awake In Philly meetings are designed to offer support to
anyone who must deal with the impact of sleep apnea, including the
patient, the spouse, a co-worker or supervisor, researchers, physicians,
attorneys, among others. Everyone is encouraged to attend the meetings.
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