Patient information gathered by electrodes during the sleep study is displayed on the computer screen and evaluated by professional staff throughout the study.

Kelly Olson, RRT, fastens electrodes to the head of a patient in preparation for a sleep study at Roseau Area Hospital.

Many residents of northern Minnesota have undergone sleep studies at Roseau Area Hospital since the service was introduced just over two years ago.

The benefits for these patients have been impressive, with many of them achieving their first good night’s sleep in years.

Because of this success, Roseau Area Hospital and Homes has hired an additional part-time respiratory therapist to make this service even more flexible when it comes to scheduling appointments.

While other medical testing is typically done during normal workday, a sleep study generally occurs after hours.

“It is very helpful to have another respiratory therapist on staff,” says Chris Berger, Director of Respiratory Care at RAHH. “We are happy that we are able to provide this service to better fit the schedules of our patients.”

“Now we are able to do daytime or weekend studies,” says Kelly Olson, RRT, the new respiratory therapist at RAHH.

To accommodate this expanding service, studies are now performed in the Lake Therapies department on the northeast side of the hospital campus.

The clinic makes good use of space by utilizing a bed that folds up into a cabinet between studies.

A typical sleep study involves attaching several electrodes to the patient’s head, torso, and limbs. These tiny devices monitor body function and brain waves during sleep and transmit the information to a computer system that tracks the results of the study.

Information from the study is sent electronically to Precision Diagnostic Systems, a sleep study company in Fargo, where it is reviewed by medical professionals to determine if—among other things—there is any type of sleep disorder, including sleep apnea, a condition in which a patient actually stops breathing for several seconds, sometimes up to 20 seconds at a time during sleep.

If sleep apnea is identified, the patient is referred to RAHH’s respiratory care staff to be fitted with a CPAP or BiPAP, small portable machines that reduce or eliminate the stoppage by forcing air through a mask which is worn over the nose during sleep.

“You would be amazed how many people have sleep disorders and don’t even know it,” Olson says. “Only after they experience a solid full night of sleep do they realize what they’ve been missing.”

To learn more about the benefits of having a sleep study at Roseau Area Hospital, or to ask about scheduling a test, call (218) 463-4708.