Hi James :)
Hmmm.... Interesting concept for combat operations .... Awake for
only 8 hours... Even in training operations and "non-combat ops" in
Panama we were regularly going for 30+ hours... There even used to be a
manual (FM) for the US Army titled "Continuous Operations" that dealt
with how to handle the effects of lack of sleep to be able to be
effective without sleep.
I need to go research the studies you cite... They seem to be a bit
extreme... But could be right... I know that I sleep 5 hours a night and
don't seem to be suffering a loss of almost half of my baseline
cognitive abilities... Tho' my "Better Half" might disagree with me :)
hehehe
The U.S. Army recommends 4 hours of sleep per 24 hours... And I must
admit that after about 36 hours awake... I have to write things down to
remember them for longer than about 30 minutes :) I have no clue what
the record for going without sleep is but after about 72 hours... I am
toast and write everything down and still forget to look at what I
wrote... Sigh... Must be why I retired from the military :)
Thanks,
Art
Art Bahrs, CISSP
Security Engineer
Providence Health & Services
[log in to unmask]
Phone: 503-216-2722
-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of James B. Byrne
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 7:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: OT RE: McCain Running Mate
On Mon, September 8, 2008 10:15, Johnson, Ted wrote:
>
> 2. Except in an declared emergency, no person, having the care,
> custody or control of another person, or performing any duty that
> presents a danger to the heath or safety of any other person, shall
> work more than eight hours in any twenty-four hour period. Except in
> a declared emergency, no person shall work more than ten hours in any
> twenty-four hour period regardless of circumstance.
>
> So you are against Firefighters working 24 hour shifts?
>
Yes. Most emphatically. Chronic fatigue and exhaustion in health and
safety workers is one of the most insidious and pervasive factors
contributing to accidental death.
Human beings simply do not respond well when they are tired. Research
indicates that human response times after eight hours of continuous
wakefulness is impaired to the same degree as the consumption of 30 ml
of grain alcohol (Gaba D. & Howard S., 2002). Other research indicates
that the effect grows progressively worse for each additional hour of
continuous consciousness until a state of complete incapacitation is
reached at about 20 hours (Jha, A. K., Bradford, Duncan, B.W., & Bates
D.W., 2004). In fact, even when subjects are allowed to nap, those that
sleep less than six consecutive hours in a twenty-four hour period
suffer a 40% reduction to their baseline cognitive and response
facilities.
It borders on insanity to devise a system which demands that a person
who has been awake for more than eight hours make life and death
decisions.
Pose the question this way: Are you against firefighters consuming
alcohol while on duty? If so, then why would anyone support an
employment practice that has the same effect?
--
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James B. Byrne mailto:[log in to unmask]
Harte & Lyne Limited http://www.harte-lyne.ca
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Hamilton, Ontario fax: +1 905 561 0757
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