Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Fire Fighters and EMS ... - NAEMT

<strong>Effects</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sleep</strong> <strong>Deprivation</strong> on Fire Fighters and EMS Responders
Table 2.2. Recommendations for Seafarer Fatigue Reform (Smith, Allen & Wadsworth, 2006)
Treat fatigue as a
serious health and
safety issue.
Take a robust approach
to regulation and
staffing.
Enforce legislation,
eliminate false recordkeeping
and provide
better training and
guidance.
Learn from best
practices.
There are serious risks and consequences associated with fatigued seafarers, such as
environmental disasters, economic losses and the health, safety and well being <strong>of</strong> seafarers.
The first stage <strong>of</strong> dealing with fatigue is to get the relevant people to acknowledge that there
is a problem to address.
Staffing must consider more than the minimum level needed to operate a vessel and allow for
maintenance, recovery time, redundancy and the paperwork and drills associated with
security and environmental issues. More transparent regulatory models are needed to allow
such an approach.
It is essential that existing guidelines be enforced, supplemented with a serious attempt to
promote a culture <strong>of</strong> safety, so that seafarers do not feel compelled to falsify records.
Appropriate training and guidance regarding avoidance <strong>of</strong> fatigue and optimum working
conditions is needed. All stakeholders must be involved in developing solutions. If nothing is
done, the maritime industry may be compelled to respond to external drivers, such as
environmental lobbies or those pushing security agendas.
It is important to learn by example and adopt strategies that will lead to a culture <strong>of</strong> best
practice and an elimination <strong>of</strong> worst case scenarios. This approach will require the
collaborative efforts <strong>of</strong> all stakeholders.
Review <strong>of</strong> work hours and CMV operators allows insight into the difficulties <strong>of</strong> establishing
clear thresholds for what constitutes safe practices. It also provides examples <strong>of</strong> means to
monitor work hours and newer efforts to identify higher risk drivers. In addition, we discuss the
relationship <strong>of</strong> fatigue to crashes among all drivers.
As early as 1917, a task force <strong>of</strong> scientists convened in Washington, D.C. to discuss the effects
<strong>of</strong> fatigue on motor vehicle driver accidents (FMVCSA, 2005). The U.S. trucking regulations
were developed in the 1930s by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to counteract
perceived unsafe driver scheduling practices.
The rules were changed in 2003 to increase the work limit from 10 to 11 hours, and rather than
just use the hours worked per week as a limit for total hours, a new 34 hour ‘reset the weekly limit
clock’ provision was added. The stated reason for the change was to move toward a 24 hour
schedule and allow more flexibility in scheduling, and in general CMV drivers prefer longer
shifts, which allow more personal flexibility and driving at night when traffic is less (Wylie,
1996). Although a small change in shift length, the addition <strong>of</strong> the 34 hour rule increased the
total hours that a driver could work per week. Table 2.3 presents a chronological listing <strong>of</strong> the
regulations concerning CMV operation.
In response to the 2003 rule change and its longer hours, three advocacy groups; Public Citizen,
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) and Parents Against Tired Truckers; filed a
petition to review the new hours-<strong>of</strong>-service rule with the U.S. Court <strong>of</strong> Appeals. It cited a 1996
study that found a strong relationship between single-vehicle truck crashes and the length <strong>of</strong>
consecutive hours spent driving, with the risk <strong>of</strong> a crash doubling after nine hours <strong>of</strong> continuous
driving. They objected to effectively allowing 20 percent longer time behind the wheel; they also
felt electronic monitoring <strong>of</strong> hours should have been required for all CMV operators. They pointed
out that the new rules allowed a driver on an eight day rotation to accrue a total <strong>of</strong> 98 hours <strong>of</strong>
both work and driving.
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