TY - JOUR
T1 - Strategies to improve sleep during extended search and rescue operations
AU - Jenkins, Jennifer Lee
AU - Fredericksen, Kim
AU - Stone, Roger
AU - Tang, Nelson
PY - 2007/4
Y1 - 2007/4
N2 - Objective. This study investigated strategies to improve sleeping conditions during search and rescue operations during disaster response. Methods. Forty members of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Urban Search and Rescue Team were surveyed for individual sleep habits and sleeping aids used during extended deployments. Team members were also asked to suggest methods to improve sleep on future deployments. Results. The average amount of sleep during field operations was 5.4 hours with a range of 4-8 hours. Eight percent surveyed would prefer another schedule besides the 12-hour work day, all of whom proposed three 8-hour shifts. Fifteen percent of participants were interested in a pharmacological sleeping aid. Fifty percent of search and rescue members interviewed would consider using nonpharmacological sleeping aids. Furthermore, 40% of participants stated they had successfully devised self-employed methods of sleep aids for previous deployments, such as ear plugs, massage, mental imagery, personal routines, music and headphones, reading, and blindfolds. Conclusions. This study suggests that availability of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological sleeping aids to search and rescue workers via the team cache could impact the quantity of sleep. Further investigation into methods of optimizing sleep during field missions could theoretically show enhanced performance through various aspects of missions including mitigation of errors, improved productivity, and improved overall physiological and emotional well-being of search and rescue personnel.
AB - Objective. This study investigated strategies to improve sleeping conditions during search and rescue operations during disaster response. Methods. Forty members of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Urban Search and Rescue Team were surveyed for individual sleep habits and sleeping aids used during extended deployments. Team members were also asked to suggest methods to improve sleep on future deployments. Results. The average amount of sleep during field operations was 5.4 hours with a range of 4-8 hours. Eight percent surveyed would prefer another schedule besides the 12-hour work day, all of whom proposed three 8-hour shifts. Fifteen percent of participants were interested in a pharmacological sleeping aid. Fifty percent of search and rescue members interviewed would consider using nonpharmacological sleeping aids. Furthermore, 40% of participants stated they had successfully devised self-employed methods of sleep aids for previous deployments, such as ear plugs, massage, mental imagery, personal routines, music and headphones, reading, and blindfolds. Conclusions. This study suggests that availability of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological sleeping aids to search and rescue workers via the team cache could impact the quantity of sleep. Further investigation into methods of optimizing sleep during field missions could theoretically show enhanced performance through various aspects of missions including mitigation of errors, improved productivity, and improved overall physiological and emotional well-being of search and rescue personnel.
KW - Disaster
KW - Field work
KW - Pharmacological
KW - Search and rescue
KW - Sleep
KW - Special operations
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U2 - 10.1080/10903120701205182
DO - 10.1080/10903120701205182
M3 - Article
C2 - 17454814
AN - SCOPUS:34047182116
VL - 11
SP - 230
EP - 233
JO - Prehospital Emergency Care
JF - Prehospital Emergency Care
SN - 1090-3127
IS - 2
ER -