Firefighter Shift Work, Sleep Disturbance, and Trauma Susceptibility

Sleep disturbance plays a large role in the challenges of being a firefighter. For firefighters, sleep disturbance is often caused by shift work that requires working in 24-hour increments. One key consequence of sleep disturbance is an increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Sleep disturbance and PTSD have a bidirectional relationship, which can create a hard-to-escape cycle of the demands of shift work and trauma exposure for firefighters. Unfortunately, there is limited research on how different shift patterns affect sleep disturbance, and in turn, how sleep disturbance affects PTSD risk. The current study examined the relationship between shift work patterns and sleep disturbance and between sleep disturbance and trauma susceptibility in firefighters, with a focus on the amount of time off between work shifts. Firefighters from Washington State and Wisconsin were administered a comprehensive online questionnaire to better understand these relationships. While the study results showed no difference in the relationship between sleep disturbance and two groups of shift work patterns (24 hours off or more than 24 hours off between work shifts), there was a positive relationship between sleep disturbance and trauma susceptibility. This implies that the amount of time off between work shifts may not impact sleep disturbance, but that restful and restorative sleep is a protective factor that can improve the health and well-being of firefighters.