SAIL Respiratory Equipment Program's Statement on Global CPAP Shortage
A global shortage of respiratory equipment is affecting the supply of CPAP machines available through the SAIL Respiratory Equipment Program. This shortage will affect SAIL’s ability to provide machines for new clients or replacement machines for existing clients in its usual timely manner. SAIL has consulted with medical health professionals to create a triage protocol that applies clinically valid and objective assessment criteria to all clients equally. The triage criteria will be used to assess clients solely on clinical criteria to ensure that machines are provided in a consistent, fair, and unbiased manner.
The following measures will take place until the shortage has been resolved.
SAIL CPAP Loan Program Triage Assessment Criteria (during shortage)
- Severity of obstructive sleep apnea;
- Patient comorbidities including, but not limited to, cardiovascular comorbidities such as heart disease; pulmonary diseases such as significant COPD; and/or neurological disorders such as ALS
- Risk of occupational injury/accident especially for patients in safety critical occupations (e.g., professional pilots/drivers, heavy equipment operators); and
- A history of compliance that shows the extent to which symptoms improve with CPAP therapy or recur if therapy is interrupted.
