I Have recently been diagnosed with Severe obstructive sleep apnea.I am in the military and my doctor has told me that i will be prescribed a portable cpap so i will be able to go to Iraq with it.My question is how practical is it to have a cpap in Iraq,it will definitely get dirty,I may have to carry it on patrols, and if it breaks i was told i will not be evac'd because as my doctor put it,sleep apnea is not a life threating condition.

My husband was deployed to Iraq with a CPAP a couple of months ago.  While the Army now seems to be doing this routinely now, though it is against their regulations.  I've spoken with the Office of the Judge Advocate General and confirmed this, but the politics of the situation are tying my hands.  Thankfully my hubby is at a remote big base and does not convoy or patrol (at least that is what he tells me).  
 
Here's some prior posts about the topic
 
http://www.apneasupport.org/about6365.html
http://www.apneasupport.org/about6175.html
http://www.apneasupport.org/about5771.html
http://www.apneasupport.org/viewtopic.php?p=42444#42444
 
You need a steady electrical connection and a tranformer to use the CPAP every night.  He's not seen any problems with it yet.
 
Sleep apnea is a life threatening condition, especially to those around you given your situation.  You cannot perform to your peak if you cannot sleep through the night, nor can your buddies depend on you.  Your reactions will be dulled.  I've seen what happens to my husband, who has severe apnea, when he doesn't use his CPAP.  I wouldn't trust him to drive anywhere in that state, let alone convoy or patrol in a war zone.  
 
The Army doctor gave my husband the same line.  Told him even that he didn't need the CPAP down range.  It is BS.

You may wish to contact your congress critter for possible assistance.

the air intake filters on many new CPAPs are very small and would block up very quickly in dusty conditions, perhaps a better air filter system is needed if portable CPAP use is to become widespread
obviously a soldier with apnea but without his CPAP is a menace to himself and fellow soldiers due to severe mental and physical fatigue
an untreated apnea sufferer has a lot of trouble in making fast correct decisions

Does anyone know if there are any Navy medical regulations concerning cpaps or sleep apnea in a combat zone?

Just left the Navy in Aug 06 and the last thing the sleep lab in Portsmouth, VA said is that for now there is no prob with Cpap on ships but deployment into Iraq was not suppose to happen due to all the issues in the posts above me.  thought that was a line of bs when they told me that but I will say the Navy is atleast trying to help with OSA.

My army unit is prohibited to bring a CPAP machine on deployments - no ifs, ands, or buts about.  In fact it was the one health issue on the list of prohibited items to bring with you, hence why I tried the UPP and suspension surgery instead.

I just wanted to give mega thanks to those of you with personal experience in this area who come back and help these people.  Bluejeans, thank you for your knowledge and links to the other posts.

This is a important topic which we see so much of and we moderators do not have the resources or knowledge in this area.

Thanks again everyone for helping out our men and women who need every ounce of support we can give them!!!!        

Vicki


_________________
Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.
Marilyn Von Savant

That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Does anyone know if i can use the Army regulations for a marine deployment to Iraq or are there any Navy regulations like the Army ones?Should i possibly seek help from a JAG officer?Right now i have an appt. with a civilian pulmonologist to determine if i am deployable and i am seeking an appt. with a military doctor to clarify my deployability status,any thoughts on how I should go about this?

[quote="MTW9"]Does anyone know if i can use the Army regulations for a marine deployment to Iraq or are there any Navy regulations like the Army ones?[/quote]

If they are Army regs they wouldn't apply to Navy/Marines, although the Navy may have similar regs.  Even if they are DOD regs it is possible that the Navy or Marines have additional regs.

I don't really understand what is going on with this problem, it seems that every case is different or people are not being honest, this is what happened to me. I went to a medical board and they found me fit for duty then my unit tried to send me to afghanistan and when i went to srp they said "you can't go your CO has to make a request to CETCOM and that came down negative so i didn't go.
i heard about a new policy but it's not approved yet.

Hey,

I just wanted to let everyone know about something that came down out from DoD  and CENTCOM. Published on 30 September 2008 was Mod 9 to the deployment policy to the CENTCOM AOR. Basically in a nutshell it says that anyone going there (the whole middle east in essence, including Iraq and Afghanistan hot zones, as well as places like Kuwait, Qatar, where no action will probably be seen) if you use a CPAP (or any other kind of DME) you are not deployable. I printed a copy of that and the pertinent sections of the Army's PPG and will be bringing it into my SRP appointment. It is a good chance that some deployment stations will not have that info, so make sure you have it yourself. On AKO, do a search for "CENTCOM Mod 9", the PPG is on the Army G1 site. Where you can find it for other services I don't know, but you probably should have a copy if you are being told to deploy and want to fight it.

Does anyone know the policy for Air Force? And also i carry a weapon daily at work and was wondering how it would affect my job.

I can't tell you anything specific about the AF, but the documents I referenced above are interservice. CENTCOM is a joint forces command and the documents referenced apply to all services.

check out Tricare's web site (tricarecpap), they have a "deployment bag" that they will work with you to get.  i know that most services are deploying to that area, some limit the area and others will send you any where.  ask about a battery that might be able to be charged.  Thank you for serving

PanMan
TSgt Retired