Sleep Apnea & Safe Driving
A Q&A with Truckers & Turnover Project leader Stephen Burks
Truckers with depression find hope and others to listen online
Truck drivers are one of the top eight occupations likely to commit suicide. A Facebook group has become a place for drivers with depression to get help and find camaraderie.
Poor dental health on the road can turn fatal
Most truckers' dental emergencies from drivers include abscessed teeth, broken teeth, decayed teeth, and broken dentures, often made worse when dental care is put off.
Dr. Thomas Roemer, the dentist at the Iowa 80 Truckstop, has seen it too many times. His practice is 95% emergency, drop-in care, but too often it’s beyond any dental intervention.
“My biggest advice to truck drivers is to keep themselves out of a medical emergency by making sure a dental problem doesn’t turn into a medical problem…I’m not here to say to [most of my patients], ‘Hey, you need to get your teeth cleaned and examined.’ We’re beyond that. It’s a situation where they have to get some kind of care to try to stay out the medical emergency room. I know I keep saying ‘medical, but there’s a handful of guys over the years I’ve sent to the hospital because I can’t even treat them. It’s actually that bad and I’ve said: ‘You [...]
