How do you prepare for the first night shift?

[jw-c152]

Hey everyone. I'd like to pose a question to you all.

How do you prepare for your first night shift?

Tomorrow night I start my set of 4 night shifts (12 hours, 8pm-8am). I work in a busy service where I am likely to get no rest/sleep time while at work. To prepare for tomorrow, I will try to stay awake as long as possible tonight in order to sleep most of tomorrow then hopefully I won't be too tired.

What do you do?

Thanks----John

[scootyboy2]

i hope you like coffee. lol

Sleep the most during the day and drink alot of coffe. soon you will get used to them. good luck

[Dustdevil]

I prepare by avoiding the situation altogether.

I wouldn't work anyplace that used rotating shifts. They aren't interested in employee welfare, so I am not interested in them.

Good luck!

[tddubois]

Sleep when you can, and if you don't allready, learn to love the coffee. I donno if your body ever gets used to switching its time perception like that, but all in all its not that bad if your young and dumb like I am. Some people prefer the overnights. I don't know how busy your area is, or how your system is set up but you will probably find yourself able to get some down time at some point, and not find yourself running constantly for 8 hours every single night. Besides most people in EMS can fall asleep anywhere, and on anything it seems, If you haven't picked this up yet, you probably will.

Get some sleep,

-tddubois

[jw-c152]

My strategy seems to work for me... I'm not new to working nights... I'm just over 3 years on but I'm finding I'm starting to get more and more tired already. Thanks for the suggestions... keep em coming.

And yes, I do love coffee.. MmmmMMMm Timmy's

jOHN

[jw-c152]

Dust: All of the services I know in Ontario work on a rotating schedule. My service does have a few "Day Cars" which work strictly day shifts. However, the PCP "Day Cars" are primarily transfer vehicles, and the ALS "Day Cars" are hard to get onto due to seniority (which I only have 3 years of).

Would be nice to avoid services with rotating shifts, but here it's not possible.

john

[Dustdevil]

Well then your union sucks!

I'd fire them and get somebody who could accomplish something positive.

[thbarnes]

Eat and eat a lot! But stear clear of junk/fast food: stick to pasta, veggies, protein (meat/soy), and rice for long-term energy, fruit and energy bars for quick fixes if you need them (this means you may need to plan your meals ahead and pack them). Stay away from coffee and other caffeine, the constant up and down of caffeine and sugar will wear you out. A little green tea can help in the beginning, but I don't recommend indulging a caffeine addiction. Purchase dark curtains for your room, educate your family/roommates about being quiet after your night shifts. Do you exercise? If not, start. Pick up some 1mg Melatonin (now comes sub-lingually) to help you get to sleep after those night ships, believe me, it will be harder than you think. Also make sure you give yourself time after you get off to wind down, read, watch TV, etc.

[hammerpcp]

Where do you work John? Four nights in a row is a lot. I hope you have at least three days off to recover form that in between your next shift. Shift work sucks. Period. There is nothing positive about it. Unfortunately these damn people keep getting sick outside of regular business hours. So what are you going to do? 24/7 EMS coverage is not negotiable and shift work is the standard way of achieving this staffing requirement. It seems that it will be a long time coming before this changes, so as it is now we just have to live with it as best we can. Chances are the medical schools will smarten up before EMS even thinks about it, and med schools are showing no sign of changing no matter how much supporting evidence comes to light.

I do as you described above as well. I stay up as late as I can on the few nights preceding the switch over.

thbarnes, great advice, but you wouldn't want me showing up at your house around the 4 am hump, to look after your father without my coffee. :coffee:

I try to get my paper work cleared up as fast as possible (if you are anything like me I highly recommend proof reading your ACR before handing it in, it's amazing what seems to make sense in the middle of the night :wink: ) and then sleep whenever I can. The sleep I do get during night shift (if any) doesn't seem to count towards how much I need the following day, but it does help get through the night, and the next call. Although I think I have had several minor MI's from the tones going off while I was asleep. Either that or I just sleep through them. I recommend having gum on you at all times. I nearly got killed by a fire fighter on scene who had obviously gotten some sleep that night, from the smell of his breath :puke: . Even if you are okay, you may need to start handing it out if you have a code or otherwise long scene time in close quarters.

Anything useful? Take care.

:sleepy1:

[Nate]

Make sure you have insurance, because if you wreck the ambulance and hit me or my loved ones, or kill one of us because your to tired; I'll own your ass. I know it sounds mean, but I'd rather you not work the shift then do something you or your body can't handle.