What are the effects of sleep deprivation for paramedics?
Hypothesis
HY 1---WORK QUALITY DECREASES WITH SLEEP DEPRIVATION1
HY2---THE QUALITY OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES DECREASES WITH SLEEP DEPRIVATION
Although many individual EMTs attempt to cope with the effects of sleep deprivation by withdrawing from their personal lives or reducing the time spent at work-studies show that neither of these coping mechanisms are effective. While this is a problem that confronts shift workers everywhere it is dramatically brought home to EMT workers who sometimes have to respond to situations where the patient causes an accident because they themselves were sleep deprived.
In Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Firefighters and EMS Responders by Diane L. Elliot, MD, FACP, FACSM and Kerry S. Kuehl, MD, DrPH . The Division of Health Promotion & Sports Medicine of the Oregon Health & Science University of Portland, Oregon, supported by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) offers an analysis of research limitations, information, implications, recommendations and legal considerations regarding sleep deprivation. It includes information on the physiological effects of sleep deprivation, how it affects other professions and how to mitigate these effects.
The education program developed by the IAFC based upon this report is constantly being refined and added on to. The introductory web page entitled simply, “Sleep Deprivation” includes links to the initial study along with training resources in a variety of media so that individual department heads can tailor a program to meet the needs of their team. Other links on this page address related concerns as well as providing information regarding a broad range of subjects of interest to emergency responders.
The web site EMSWorld.Com provides a variety of information regarding sleep deprivation issues encountered by EMS workers. One of these, Stress and Sleep Deprivation in EMS, is a brief look at the issue and offers techniques to help counter the effects of fatigue. Another, more in depth article entitled Dead Tired explores effects on individuals, organizations and society as a whole. It looks into not only the problems encountered by EMS workers but also by other persons who frequently encounter sleep deprivation problems because of their employment.
Most studies recognize the problem as one that affects the professional and personal lives of EMTs. The sleep deprivation mitigation tools and programs stress how an individual can cope. In contrast, Sleep Deprivation as presented at the Shore 10th Annual EMS Conference focuses upon the employer’s responsibility to help EMS workers have the time, conditions and especially scheduling considerations so that they can maintain proper sleep patterns.
A year after the study released by the USFA and the IFCA the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration presented its own study entitled EMS Workforce for the 21st Century: A National Assessment. . This exhaustive 163-page study covers considerations and challenges faced by the EMS workforce and their department administrations. It starts with a workforce analysis, ends with projections for future demand and fully covers a broad range of topics in between. Woven in and out of the fabric of this assessment is the issue of sleep deprivation. When viewed in this manner it becomes obvious that sleep deprivation is a problem that affects EMS workers on every level in their professional and personal lives. This pervasive influence has its effects on job performance and personal relationships; this cannot be compartmentalized so that an EMT can leave a lack of sleep behind at the work place and arrive home refreshed the way other work stressors can be dealt with.
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