Any one scheduled for 10/17 at prime mo.

I am a man and even if i stop breathing 1 or 2 times while i am taking the test, i will tell them to set me up with a cpap right away.

 

We are bozos. And not the funny kind. If I get to that point, I'm gonna hook myself up to any wire or cable or pipe I can find if it means being able to 1) drive a truck, and 2) stay alive and well. Besides, if he stopped breathing that many times, I wonder how many other effective breaths he actually took. Wow.

 

that is 125 per hr is how it is tested

 

And...

There will be a new post in the Bad Trucking Company section detailing how "evil" Prime is discriminating against him, yadda, yadda, yadda...

 

Wrong. Normal respirations are about 20 or so breaths per hour. Even out-of-shape people will only have respirations of about 50 or so max, even in an excited state like after exercise. Based on what he said, all that tracks: he was a smoker, overweight, and probably hadn't eaten well for decades. Considering an 8-hour sleep period, missing 125 breaths per night is very, very scary. That guy was missing 16 breaths per hour which is very serious. He was not breathing more than he was breathing so his system was most likely dangerously short of oxygen.

With numbers as bad as that, he was a huge medical risk for the company. The docs might have sent him home and not given him the option of refusing treatment, no matter what he said.

 

Its more a liability risk. There have been some really horrific truck wrecks in recent years because drivers are falling asleep at the wheel... diagnosed with sleep apnea, and not getting good rest even though they are compliant with the HOS rules.

 

Yea, and as much of a pain in the arse that it might seem to be, to many. It's one of the reasons that I chose Prime to go with.

 

Um, you only take a breath every 3 minutes? That's not right.

 

The math works like this, assuming a respiratory rate of 25 breaths per minute (slightly higher than normal) and an 8-hour rest period:

25 X 8 = 200 breaths per night (bpn)
200 bpn - 125 missed breaths = 75 breaths he took in 8 hours
75 breaths / 8 hours = about 9 breaths per minute.

That's the scary part. Only marathon runners have resting respiratory rates that low because they have incredibly efficient respiratory systems. A smoker has significantly reduced respiratory efficiency, meaning he would have to breathe more, not less, to get sufficient oxygen ciruculation. That's why CPAP users feel so much better and can sleep fewer hours--they get more O2 into their system.

The liability on the company is huge with that kind of medical indication.

 

He was I think 23 and was not that big (fat) I took mine at the same time he did I had 34.7 per hr but I'm sick and I talk with my Dr. And she said I should not have taken the test but now I ha ve to do a retest here at home before I can do anything.prime was not that bad there I like everybody but the testing facility is not part of prime they are independent and told the technician that I was sick I couldn't breathe in my chest hurts and he said it would affect anything so when I ended up talking to my doctor we have to schedule a new appointment and I talk to the new testing facility they said I should of never taken that test while I was sick you do not get accurate readings