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Fatigue in EMS

Overview

Understanding the science behind sleep health and applying these principles to the EMS workforce is important to help improve safety through fatigue risk management. This concept served to guide the activities of a 5-year project awarded to NASEMSO by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Institutes of Behavior Resources, Inc. resulted in evidence-based guidelines, infographics, a guidebook, manuscripts, videos, and an EMS Fatigue Risk Analyzer.

Project Resources

Shift Schedule Fatigue Risk Analyzer

This tool can be used to perform fatigue risk analysis on simple repeating shift work schedules. View the video link to the right to watch a webinar recording highlighting the project and the web tool.

Access Tool

Implementation Guidebook

The purpose of this guidebook is to help EMS administrators with implementation of the Evidence Based Guidelines for Fatigue Risk Management in EMS. This document is intended to complement the scientific papers with a condensed summary of each recommendation and sample policy statement templates that may be tailored/edited to the needs of local agencies.

Download Guidebook

Documents & Resources

Articles & Editorials

This document provides a list with links to editorials, methodology, systematic reviews, main guideline, and performance measures articles. Direct links also available below.

MAIN GUIDELINE & PERFORMANCE MEASURES

METHODOLGY & SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

EDITORIALS

Absence and Need for Fatigue Risk Management in Emergency Medical Services (Jan 2018)
Evidence-Based Guidelines for Fatigue Risk Management in EMS: A Step in the A Step in the Right Direction Toward Better Sleep Health (Jan 2018)
Fatigue Risk Management in High-Risk Environments: A Call to Action by former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman (Jan 2018)

OTHER PUBLISHED ARTICLES

The Emergency Medical Services Sleep Health Study: A cluster-randomized trial (Nov 2022)

Resources

EDUCATIONAl MATERIALS
- Project Overview. PowerPoint presentation providing a comprehensive overview of the project. (Jan 2018)
- Implementation Guidebook: 2018 Fatigue Risk Management Guidelines for EMS
- Infographic (Updated Dec 2024)
WEBINARS
- Evidence-Based Guidelines for Fatigue Risk Management in EMS. EMS Focus webinar hosted by NHTSA's Office of EMS (jump to minute 27:30). (Sep 2017)
  Dr. David Patterson shares the value of reviewing enormous amounts of evidence to develop recommendations for improving the safety of EMS patients and providers that leaders and members of every EMS organization can use to create safer EMS systems. Learn how you can incorporate evidence-based policies in your organization and training.
- Fatigue Risk Management in EMS. Hosted by the National Association of EMS Educators. (Apr 2020)
  Dr. David Patterson discusses sleep physiology, fatigue, and findings from the Fatigue in EMS Project. He reviews the guidelines and individual recommendations and discusses how educators can use the project’s findings to inform and educate students in the dangers of fatigue and importance of sleep in the EMS occupation.
NHTSA TECHNICAL REPORTS
- Developing a Webtool for Fatigue in Emergency Medical Services Scheduling (Dec 2022)
- The Emergency Medical Services Sleep Health Study (Jan 2023)
- Fatigue in Emergency Medical Services Systems(Aug 2019)
SLEEP FOUNDATION
- Stages of Sleep: What Happens in a Sleep Cycle
- How Much Sleep Do You Need?

For more information:
info@nasemso.org