A Wakeup Call for More Sleep

Hey all, Ryan here.

Allow me to promote myself to Captain Obvious for a hot take: your sleep sucks. It does not take a double-blind study to figure out being up for 24 hours and then trying to live a normal life in your 48 or 72 off is not sustainable.

Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) is very real. It causes sleepiness during normal waking hours and insomnia at nighttime. A study by UCLA Health pinpointed five major health risks associated with it:

1. Cancer- SWSD is a group 2A carcinogen, meaning it is highly likely carcinogenic.

2. Heart Problems-increased risk of heart attack and stroke

3. Gastrointestinal disorders-a lot of this is linked to the associated poor diet.

4.  Mental health disorders-much higher risk of developing anxiety and depression.

5.  Metabolic disorders-obesity, diabetes, high cortisol, and everything that negatively affects healthy hormone production.

While this post is about sleep, it’s important to note that ALL FIVE of those major health risks are also health concerns that affect us more than the general population, because of our work and lifestyle.

My personal experience is that I have not had a visit from the Sleep Fairy at work since I promoted off the back.  When you move to the front seat, whether it’s a fire truck or ambulance, your time to focus is significantly shortened.  As a driver you had better be awake and focused once that bay door opens.  Same as an officer, there are notes to be read and decisions to consider on the way. It is slightly different on the back.  You can use the time responding slowly (yeah, right) to acclimate the flashing lights and siren and be fully alert by the time the parking brake is set at wherever you’re going.

The weight of responsibility does not leave you when your eyes close while you’re on duty, your brain adapts to keep you out of deep sleep, so you don’t fight through cobwebs every time a tone drops. So yes, even a quiet night does not guarantee quality sleep. 

And then what? You go home tired and know a nap would be good, but it’s your time off and you’ve got a list of shit to do.  Honey-do’s, kiddos, exercise, groceries if there’s a list, taking a nap is usually at the bottom. Oftentimes we end up spending the day like a zombie, nodding off at stop lights and in the middle of conversations. Or maybe you get home and take a loooong nap. Then sleep at night sucks because your circadian cycle is trashed.

So, what can you do?

Let’s start with the obvious. Coming to work expecting to catch up on sleep is fool’s gold. I don’t care how slow your station is, these days every single apparatus has the potential to run 24 hours non-stop. Twenty-four hours and run volume is not going to change and no one is coming to put you to bed on your days off. A 24-72 work shift is the gold standard but departmentally we are only halfway there.

If you’re tired when you get off shift, take a nap sooner rather than later. Limit the nap to 90 min which gives you one full sleep cycle. If it’s getting near 2:00pm and no nap yet, do your best to just stay up and plan for an early bedtime. This will give you your best chance to still get a solid night of restorative sleep.

If you want a little more precise nap support, there are apps that use the accelerometer on your phone to wake you before you go into the next stage of sleep (so you can take a power nap (up to 20 minutes), a recovery nap (up to 45 minutes), or grab a full sleep cycle (up to 2 hours).

What other changes should we consider?

I was speaking with a coworker who mentioned the idea of an evening relief time. At first, I scoffed. It sounds weird and different. But the more I sat with it, the more sense it made. As mentioned earlier, when we get off from a busy shift one of the last things we want to do is take a nap no matter how bad we need one. By having an evening relief time, say 8:00pm, you can get off work, go home and while respecting your circadian rhythm, go straight to bed for a FULL NIGHT OF SLEEP. This greatly increases your immediate recovery from the shift while setting you up for a more productive 48 or 72 off.  When you report for your shift, you check your rig and gear, take care of whatever needs to happen, and then you can think about bed. Changing relief time won’t do a dang thing to change run volume, but if you have a busy night, you can have a little more grace in the morning on when you wake up at the station.  You still have a full day on duty to do whatever you would normally do, knowing at the end of the day your head will be on your pillow in your bed at your home. 

I’m going to pause so you can absorb this concept. You wouldn’t be spending any less time with your family; it would just be shifted by 12 hours. You will likely find yourself having MORE time to do the things you want to do. 

This is even the type of thing we could try before you buy with little impact. Once you move past the 12-hour time differential, a few stations or even a district could try this relief time without making any permanent changes. It may result in a little extra work for shift commanders to have essentially 2 shifts for a time being, but in the name of sleep this sounds like a small and temporary price to pay. 

One thing is for sure: our sleep hygiene is just as important as a healthy diet and exercise. Hopefully, you were able to stay awake while reading this. If you fell asleep you can thank me later.