Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab has teamed up with Apnea Management Service to help detect, diagnose and treat truck drivers with sleep apnea.


Truck drivers can visit any Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab, located at Pilot Travel Centers in Cartersville, Ga., Knoxville, Tenn., and West Memphis, Ark., to receive their sleep apnea assessment. The driver doesn't need an instructional guide to operate the device or pack a bag for a night in a sleep laboratory. The device automatically starts at the time the Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab medical technician programs it. The driver then takes the device to their truck cab, attaches a few sensors and goes to sleep. When the driver wakes up the next morning, the device is returned to Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab and the data is downloaded into a computer and uploaded to a server, where Apnea Management Services scores the data and provides a medical interpretation.

"We have registered technologists and medical physicians that review the data, score it and determine if the driver has obstructed sleep apnea," says Andrea Clark, president of Apnea Management Services. "We analyze the data and send the results back to Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab within hours."

If it is determined that a driver does suffer from sleep disordered breathing, Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab physicians will perform an additional test on the driver using an Auto-PAP device (Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure that changes pressure automatically). The next night, the driver once again wears the Braebon device together with the AutoTitrating Device, which automatically calculates and delivers the needed pressure levels to help the driver breathe easier. The following day, the data is uploaded from Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab to Apnea Management Services and upon analysis, a recommendation for proper airflow pressure is provided to Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab physicians.

"Braebon's Medibyte device allows drivers to use it in their truck cabs to record their breathing patterns while receiving a comfortable night's sleep in their trucks versus sleeping in a laboratory setting," says Mike Clark, director of marketing and sales for Braebon. "Until now, truck drivers had to take time off the road to participate in sleep studies, which means missed work and pay to seek help for their sleep apnea."

According to a study from Stanford University, an average of 28 percent of all drivers in truck fleets are considered to be at risk for sleep-disordered breathing or sleep apnea. Drivers identified with sleep apnea in the study had a two-fold higher accident rate per mile than drivers without the condition.

For more information, visit www.RoadsideMed.com.