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Old Apr 17, 2010, 10:40 pm
  #56  
FatManInNYC
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: LAX, PSP
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Posts: 3,143
Originally Posted by Yaatri
Sorry to have truncated your post. I wanted to respond to the legal issue you raised before I forget what I researched. The sickr requirement is proposed but it's not been implemented yet. In my research I have found lots of information about POC's (portable oxygen concentrators). I have actually seen a document that lists e few POC's that have been approved by the FAA. It appears that the situation with other M PED's (medical portable electronic devices) is a in flux. It's also confusing as it states that once the manufacturer conducts a test to determine emission levels, in compliance with the RTCA document I have mentioned earlier, the carrier doesn't have to do any further testing. But., the carrier is still held accountable to ensure that any equipment operating on the aircraft is in compliance with the FAA EMC requirements as defined by RTCA. Kind of a catch 22. I plan to write to Resmed asking them what they plan to do with the compliance letter they published on the internet. It doesn't do us any good, unless the agencies involved, FAA and the air carriers are brought up to date. If the airline is to be held accountable, the airline needs at least a letter from the manufacturer, preferably backed by FAA.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Final Rule “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel” and the Use of Respiratory Assistive Devices on Aircraft The first part of this document is what you had reproduced.
The sticker rule is a final rule.

As the airlines were advised by the FAA, here, that we have both cited:
DOT final rule, section 382.133 requires that air carriers conducting passenger service (on aircraft originally designed to have a passenger capacity of 19 or more seats) must permit someone with a disability, to use a ... (CPAP) machine, ... unless the device fails to meet applicable FAA requirements for Medical Portable Electronic Devices (M-PED) and does not display a manufacturer’s label that indicates the device meets those FAA requirements.
What this means is that the only time an airline must, upon demand of the passenger, allow the passenger to use CPAP during a flight is when, among other things, it has a manufacturer's label (or sticker) indicating its compliance.

Of course the airlines can allow a passenger to use CPAP, but is not required to under the relevant law and regulations absent the label. This is why getting a device with a label is so important: it changes the passenger from a beggar to a boss.

Good luck with the ResMed letter, please keep us informed.
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