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International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health

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Open Access 01-11-2019 | Original Article

Sleepiness among personnel in the Norwegian Air Ambulance Service

Authors: Tine Almenning Flaa, Anette Harris, Bjørn Bjorvatn, Hilde Gundersen, Erik Zakariassen, Ståle Pallesen, Siri Waage

Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health | Issue 8/2019

Abstract

Purpose To examine the effects of shift work and extended working hours on sleepiness among pilots and Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) crew members in the Norwegian Air Ambulance.

Methods

This field study investigated sleepiness during 3 consecutive weeks: the week before work, the work week, and the week after work. The pilots and HEMS crew members (N = 50) kept a wake diary during all 3 weeks and completed reaction time tests during the work week.

Results

The overall sleepiness scores were low during all 3 weeks. When comparing the 3 weeks, the lowest sleepiness levels were found for the work week. There was a small difference across work days, in which subjective sleepiness scores were highest the first duty day. No change in the reaction time tests was evident during the work week. The crew members reported being most sleepy at midnight, compared to all the other timepoints over the course of a duty day. Regarding workload and total work time, having larger workload was associated with lower sleepiness scores, while having higher total work time was associated with higher sleepiness score, both compared to the medium category.

Conclusions

The findings indicate that the work schedules and setting for this distinct occupational group do not seem to negatively affect the sleepiness levels.

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Title: Sleepiness among personnel in the Norwegian Air Ambulance Service
Authors: Tine Almenning Flaa
Anette Harris
Bjørn Bjorvatn
Hilde Gundersen
Erik Zakariassen
Ståle Pallesen
Siri Waage
Publication date: 01-11-2019
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health / Issue 8/2019
Print ISSN: 0340-0131
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1246
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-019-01449-w

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Sleepiness among personnel in the Norwegian Air Ambulance Service

Abstract

Methods

Results

Conclusions

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