Episode 049 - Addicted to Awake

Those of us who are firefighters and work in EMS are known as “shift workers” because we work outside of the typical hours of 9am to 5pm.  Depending on how busy our department, our station, and our truck is, the amount of sleep we get is usually in the hands of the Fire & EMS gods, but that doesn’t mean that we are totally helpless and can’t do something about it. How many times have you heard someone say, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!”  Now, how many times have you rolled your eyes at the person who said it?  I know I do.  I can’t understand how people wear lack of sleep as some kind of badge of honor.  If they were being productive, that’s one thing, but in the instances that I’ve experienced people say that, that’s not the case.  They are chugging energy drinks as if they are some kind of on-duty replacement for their off-duty alcohol dependence, which is a whole other topic itself.  However, by continuing to shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to getting quality sleep, we are running toward burnout and disease. In today’s episode, I am going to talk about how not getting enough sleep is literally killing us and what we can do to help be our own advocates when it comes to getting the quality sleep that we need.  --  Firefighter Podcast Facebook Community  12 Days of Kaizen First Responder Sleep Recovery Training Do Firefighters Shift Schedules Affect Sleep Quality? Shift Work and Sleep Book: The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life One Night at a Time Book: Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success