NTSB: Engineer In Fatal Metro-North Derailment Has ‘Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea’

[hrmjustin]

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Federal investigators have found that the engineer at the controls of the Metro-North train that derailed and left four people dead and dozens more injured has a serious sleep disorder.

A medical document made available Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board said engineer William Rockefeller has “severe obstructive sleep apnea.”

The NTSB did not say whether the engineer’s disorder contributed to the crash in the Bronx.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/04/07/ntsb-engineer-in-fatal-metro-north-derailment-has-serious-sleep-disorder/

[2pooped2pop]

1. perhaps someone with this disorder should not have had the job? n/t

[hrmjustin]

2. Agreed!

[JHB]

3. Easier said than enforced. It wasn't diagnosed before the accident.

The document says Rockefeller had not been tested for the disorder before the derailment.

The NTSB report said a sleep study was ordered because Rockefeller “did not exactly recall events leading up to the accident.”

The test found that while Rockefeller slept, he had about 65 “sleep arousals” per hour. Scientists say as few as five interruptions an hour can make someone chronically sleepy. The report said Rockefeller’s apnea apparently was undiagnosed before the accident.

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The NTSB noted that sleep apnea is not mentioned in Metro-North’s medical guidelines.

I have sleep apnea. I have no idea of the severity relative to this guy, but before I was diagnosed and treated there were times I would "zone out" in the manner he describes (I even used the same term to describe it).

After treatment was like night and day, but it's something that can develop slowly, which can lead to the habit of just trying to soldier on without knowing there's a single identifiable problem.

[hrmjustin]

4. Retired NYPD cop sues Metro-North for $10 million following last year’s Bronx train derailment

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/nypd-vet-sues-metro-north-10-million-year-bronx-train-derailment-article-1.1749443