LIRR should of predicted the Atlantic Terminal Crash
The Long Island Railroad is under heavy criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board for failure to create protocols for sleep apnea screening resulting in a train crash at the Atlantic terminal in 2017 that caused injury to over 100 passengers. The Long Island Railroad is accused of not doing enough to end terminal accidents. The fact is that there of been multiple similar accidents in the past couple of years that are a result of undiagnosed Sleep Apnea.
The Long Island Railroad officials are taking responsibility for four accidents that occurred on the railroad since 2007- one of them being the Brooklyn crash at the Atlantic terminal were many passengers sustained injuries. According to the division chief of the National Transportation Safety Board- Mrs. Georgetta Gregory- “the probability was certainly there”. “ We know it has happened, so we know it’ll most likely happen again.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said that because of the recent accidents, the Long Island Railroad should have predicted the potential for another crash and screened their engineers for sleep apnea. The NTSB investigators discussed the morning crash of January 4, 2017, and a similar crash in Hoboken, New Jersey involving the New Jersey transit, that killed one person three months earlier during a meeting in Washington DC this Tuesday.
During this meeting, it was reported the NTSB determined that the probable cause of the crash in the Atlantic terminal was due to chronic fatigue of the Engineer which was later founded to be undiagnosed sleep apnea. Not only was it a failure on the administrations part to establish a requirement to screen for sleep apnea but also in the technology to stop the train. Since the crash in Hoboken on September 16, 2016, both railroads have mandated screening for all engineers.
The NTSB has recommended several requirements including the federal government regulations for sleep apnea screening on all railroad workers, and technology that prevents crashes at terminals. They are also calling for operational risk assessments as part of their safety management plans “ The MTA has established an aggressive sleep apnea screening and treatment program for all train and bus operators and locomotive engineers in the line with the NTSB recommendations and we are moving forward with this program even in the absence of a federal mandate” Donovan said.
If your employer requires mandated screening for sleep apnea please contact our office for a free consultation. Raphaelson Dental Sleep Center our patients a convenient Home Sleep Study that is reviewed by our sleep physician. We can provide you with the documentation needed for your DOT examiner.
If you have Sleep Apnea, you will be required to undergo treatment in order to obtain your medical certification for employment. Our oral devices are capable of recording your usage. That data is used as evidence for the Department of Transportation that you are undergoing treatment for your Sleep Apnea, and that you are remaining compliant with treatment. We can read the data from our oral devices and provide you with the compliance report that you need!
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