Home Health & Hospice Week

Many Gulf Coast apneics are in need.

Brother, can you spare a continuous positive airway pressure device?

That's the question being asked by Awake In America, a Philadelphia-based charity that provides CPAP equipment to needy U.S. residents. The nonprofit has launched Operation Restore CPAP to help victims of Hurricane Katrina - and it's asking CPAP suppliers and manufacturers for their help.

"We're in desperate need of equipment," Awake In America Coordinator Dave Jackson tells Eli. "Listening to some of the stories, it's just heart-wrenching."

Awake In America estimates that more than 587,000 people with sleep apnea live in counties along the Gulf Coast. Even before announcing its initiative, the organization fielded calls from apneics whose equipment had been lost or destroyed in the storm and flooding.

In the 30 hours following Katrina's landfall, AIA received more than a dozen inquiries from storm survivors. Some callers had left their homes in New Orleans under the mandatory evacuation orders. Many thought Katrina would be like past storms and they'd be home soon, so they left their belongings - and CPAP equipment - behind.

"These people are already in misery, and now, with their apnea no longer being treated and potentially causing them additional health issues, we had to react immediately," says AIA President Michele Narcavage.

Operation Restore CPAP will assist individuals who had previously been diagnosed with sleep apnea and were receiving xPAP therapy, and who live in federally designated disaster areas and lost their equipment due to flooding. AIA is also asking for monetary donations in addition to CPAP devices to cover the cost of shipping and associated supplies.

Note: For more on Operation Restore CPAP, visit www.AwakeInAmerica.org or call (215) 722-2326.