How do you prepare for the first night shift?

[jimmything]

1. You should never go to work expecting to sleep or get rest.

2. Sleep during the day...it's not rocket science.

3. Contrary to what people say, limit your caffeine intake, or at least don't have any caffeine in the last 6 hours of your shift. This will help you sleep easier when you get off.

4. Dark sunglasses for the ride home are essential.

5. Dark curtains and a quiet room help.

6. Melatonin can help you to "readjust" your sleep pattern.

7. Give it some time, it get's easier.

8. Some people never adjust to nights, some were just not meant for night work.

9. Suck it up.

[1aCe3]

Dunkin Donutz XL...Burger King.. Turbo Shots.. :shock: n Timmy Ho's XL. Yeah, that's all about you can do. Stay awake all night the previous night, and conk out during the day. You won't be adjusted yet, but it makes it easier for the coffee to take into effect. The first time I ever did a over-night, I was asked to do it after my 5-1am shift. So I did the double, figured I'd do them a favor. So it went from 1-9am. It was painful, I wasn't prepared for it all. From then all I would avoid them at all costs. It's just not worth doing something stupid - not to mention it's dangerous. I get forgetful and I tend to do have to fight to prevent myself from doing something off. Especially if you need to drive as well. Rotating shifts.. that can't be healthy. You get use to staying awake.. but the risk is more likely involved with zoning out and staring into the wall as you slowly crash into it... :shock: The light thing is very true to, stay in a well lit area and it'll help. Get into the darkness during the day and you'll sleep. Stay safe.

[john51071]

Coffee is your friend.

[hammerpcp]

Like Dustdevil said, these shifts aren't any good and that you should seriously consider getting your union or talking to your management team about adjusting that kind of work schedule. Many of the chemical plants here in Texas have learned the hard way that working days one week, nights the next, and days after that leads to a number of problems including death.

You can take my comments however you want, I firm stand where I am because of what happened to my friend. I think it is stupid that someone would subject themselves to this kind of schedule knowing what could happen. Not everyone can adjust and work with this schedule, and I'd hate to see anyone find out it doesn't after they kill someone.

Twenty-four hour shifts aren't even that great in my eyes, but they work if your service isn't rolling non-stop 24/7. I know of to many people who have had accidents while working nights or 24's, and that is the reason why I watch my crews and tell them to speak up if they are to tired to run a call. I'd rather them admit they couldn't do it, then kill someone and live with that horror the rest of their lives.

Nate, I don't think anyone is claiming that night shifts and rotating schedules are ideal, or safe, or good for you or the pt or the individual, etc, etc. In fact I think it is common knowledge that the opposite is true. However, this is the reality we have to deal with in EMS and health care in general. Someone always hast to work nights. So I would like to know what you suggest as a solution. How do you plan to keep the rigs staffed and 911 calls responded to? You say your crews can speak up if they are too tired to answer a call. But I ask you who then answers the call? In many places we are it. If I don't take the call that just came in, no one else will be able to respond to it in a reasonable time frame. So there are two options. No paramedics, or tired paramedics. How do you suggest we remedy this issue?

Lithium,

You and I could never be partners. We'd both sleep right through the tones.

[Lithium]

Lithium,

You and I could never be partners. We'd both sleep right through the tones.

Oh Hammer, it happened to me once about 6 years ago, I was on a PRU, layed down ... next thing I know I have a supervisor who happened to be acting OPS manager waking me up. Not a good thing ... never again.

peace

[Nate]

Nate, I don't think anyone is claiming that night shifts and rotating schedules are ideal, or safe, or good for you or the pt or the individual, etc, etc. In fact I think it is common knowledge that the opposite is true. However, this is the reality we have to deal with in EMS and health care in general. Someone always hast to work nights. So I would like to know what you suggest as a solution. How do you plan to keep the rigs staffed and 911 calls responded to

Make the shifts like most hospitals (in our area at least) where you work either day or night, not one shift this week and another the next week. For buys urban systems, it works better then 24 or rotating every other week shifts.

You say your crews can speak up if they are too tired to answer a call. But I ask you who then answers the call? In many places we are it. If I don't take the call that just came in, no one else will be able to respond to it in a reasonable time frame. So there are two options. No paramedics, or tired paramedics. How do you suggest we remedy this issue?

At my station the BLS crew is on the ambulance and I'm on a squad, which usually means I don't run nearly as hard as they do. So should one of them feel to tired, I can climb on the truck and leave them at the station. We have only had a few instances where a crew member was to tired, but we are lucky to have that option. We also have multipule trucks in each district to share the call volume, so at night we are pretty calm (yes I know anything can change). I'll admit, it is nice that as the call volume increases we are able to add trucks, most services don't have that advantage.

To set one plan for all of EMS isn't possible, each service has to be looked at one by one. I know of friends at other services that tell me if they even dared speak up about being "to tired" even just once they would probably lose their shift or be "let go."

Like others, I tend to spend my free time sleeping between calls. Which leads to my late night internet posting on EMT City. :wink:

[Dustdevil]

Make the shifts like most hospitals (in our area at least) where you work either day or night, not one shift this week and another the next week. For buys urban systems, it works better then 24 or rotating every other week shifts.

Yeah, that is a solution, and it would work fine anywhere. PCP's are fighting for jobs up there. Not exactly a shortage. And since they are currently not even whining to their unions about having the worst of all possible shift schedules, they're certainly not going to start complaining en masse if you went to a more intelligent and humane schedule.

Half your people will work nights. Half will work days. It's that simple. You can leave it like that forever, letting people pick and choose based upon seniority, keeping a good amount of employees extremely happy that they are on exactly the shift they want. You can rotate it every three, four, or six months so everybody has to eventually work whatever shift they don't like, keeping the junior people happy that they aren't forever stuck on a shift they don't want it.

I have never heard of this Canadian shift lunacy before I met Ontario people. It is insane. I am extremely disappointed that in a heavily unionised system that you people just bend over and take this while spending all your time whining about much less important matters. There is absolutely NO benefit whatsoever to that kind of schedule. It's complicated for you. It's complicated for the agency. It doesn't save them money. It doesn't make you money. It doesn't improve service quality or response times. They do this for one reason, and one reason only: to burn you out so they don't have to pay your retirement twenty years from now. And if your union leaders haven't figured this out and said something about it, WTF good are they? I am an exceptionally anti-union guy, but I would have pushed for a strike over those shifts years ago.

You guys in Ontario need to grow a pair, quit taking it up the arse, and speak up. They're screwing you without lubrication and you know it.

[Yummymedic05]

I work nights (7p-7a), that's my choice. Lots of sleep during the day, dark curtains are wonderful. I don't do the dark sunglasses, I do for the drive home in the bright morning sun, but Im typically sleepy when I get home. I read or get online to relax, then go to bed. I dont' drink caffeine, water does just fine. I can't sleep while I work so I find things to keep me busy or I bring a book to read.

[Connie31079]

I used to work in a base that had 24 hr shifts, and then had 48 hrs off. I didn't mind it, but the first 12 hrs of your first day off were spent sleeping, and then it didn't take very long for the rest of your 36 hrs off to go by!!

Now, I work in a base where we do 2-12 hr days (today being my first), and 2-12 hr nights. Then we have 4 days off. I like the 4 days off better, but it's hard adjusting my circadian rhythm after my 2-12 hr nights. I have to admit, no matter how hard I try, sleeping during the day just isn't the same as sleeping during the night.

And coffee is my friend, especially during night shifts, because we've been told we're NOT ALLOWED to sleep during night shifts. And we've been threatened with being sent home (without pay, obviously) if we're caught sleeping during night shifts.

This rotation, I'm being extra bold.......I'm working a 12 hr day today, go home for 12 hrs, and then come back to work for a 24 hr shift tomorrow. Then go home Sunday morning, sleep during the day (if I can) and come back for the first of my 2-12 hr night shifts Sunday night......but I'm moving, and I need the money from working that extra shift!!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

I'll be working...... :shock:

[hammerpcp]

Yeah, that is a solution, and it would work fine anywhere. PCP's are fighting for jobs up there. Not exactly a shortage. And since they are currently not even whining to their unions about having the worst of all possible shift schedules, they're certainly not going to start complaining en masse if you went to a more intelligent and humane schedule.

Half your people will work nights. Half will work days. It's that simple. You can leave it like that forever, letting people pick and choose based upon seniority, keeping a good amount of employees extremely happy that they are on exactly the shift they want. You can rotate it every three, four, or six months so everybody has to eventually work whatever shift they don't like, keeping the junior people happy that they aren't forever stuck on a shift they don't want it.

I have never heard of this Canadian shift lunacy before I met Ontario people. It is insane. I am extremely disappointed that in a heavily unionised system that you people just bend over and take this while spending all your time whining about much less important matters. There is absolutely NO benefit whatsoever to that kind of schedule. It's complicated for you. It's complicated for the agency. It doesn't save them money. It doesn't make you money. It doesn't improve service quality or response times. They do this for one reason, and one reason only: to burn you out so they don't have to pay your retirement twenty years from now. And if your union leaders haven't figured this out and said something about it, WTF good are they? I am an exceptionally anti-union guy, but I would have pushed for a strike over those shifts years ago.

You guys in Ontario need to grow a pair, quit taking it up the arse, and speak up. They're screwing you without lubrication and you know it.

Would my "growing a pair" really make you happy?

Unfortunately in the real world just because something makes sense doesn't equate to it happening. In fact it often seems the opposite is true. Our union is currently concerned with getting us a contract (which we have not had in 6 years), getting us sick days, and constantly fighting management to protect the individual rights of their employees. Changing our shift schedule to something like you describe above (although theoretically it’s a great idea) would be such a giant leap, and straying form the norm to such an extent that it will never happen. Making such a drastic change involves great risk for those that instigate the change, and once again the "that's the way we've always done it" attitude wins out. It is the norm for health care workers (hospital staff) and emergency workers (police, fire and EMS) as well as the steel companies, basically any job that involves shift work, to employ these outdated and detrimental hours and rotations. The only field that has smartened up is the nuclear power plants. They have applied the knowledge and research, and plain common sense: if your people are tired, mistakes are more likely to occur. I guess the motive for this is the disaster mentality. The potential for mass casualties is much more frightening to us then the reality of individual injury and death. Although thousands of people die in hospital due to medical errors every year, that is nothing compared to the millions that would die in a radiation related accident. For some reason there has not been enough public pressure generated to produce any form of change. They think we are ambulance drivers for fugs sake.