Night Shift with the Fort Worth Fire Department | Sleeping Around with Dr. Chris Winter | Sleep.com

Chris joins the Fort Worth Fire Department for an overnight shift in one of the most sleep-optimized firehouses in the country. Over the course of the night, Chris and the firefighters awaken numerous times, hustling to gear up and respond to emergencies across the city. Chris experiences first-hand the adrenaline rush of being startled awake by the alarm to get to the truck, and how the heroic first responders wind down afterward to get the quality rest they need.

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[Mark-emzm]

1. Learn to do the truck roll early on.
2. He is right about getting ready to sleep. Many times we get back from a run and I really don’t remember anything about it.
3. I think chiefs forget what it’s like to train all day, make runs in between, then run all night. They come out with rules such as, “no sleeping prior to 7pm” or “no sitting in recliners until after 5pm”. They make our job more dangerous because sometimes the best sleep you get is between 1-3pm and it’s just enough to get you through the night.

[zachmeaux]

“Heart safe” tones seem they could be beneficial for Ft. Worth. Those tones will definitely jar you awake.

[erinhartigan]

So cool to see how this station is prioritizing the wellness and sleep of its firefighters.

[leehart]

Good morning. I am glad to see that someone is actually studying the sleep habits of on duty firefighters. I do wish the doctor would go to other stations that actually stay up all night. With only three or four runs at night I would have considered this a slow night. Thank you and have a good day and be safe

[fiddlefolk]

I suffer severe complex ptsd after a 20 yr firefighter/paramedic career and I can tell you that sleep deprivation is at the top of the cause. The old school mentality that I worked under was part of the problem. Glad to see Ft Worth's Chief doing something about it!

[justinfinn]

Glad to see that the guys getting a pie to the face for their bday tradition also happens in other city FD’s!

[bread]

hopefully i’m gonna be working for this fire department soon!

[DistrictFire]

It’s seems it’s the Engine Co. taking all the medical responses. Some Departments have separate bunk rooms or individual rooms that alerted for only those members. Unless it’s a run for both companies, the remaining members might not even know there’s a run. It can add sleep for some but in over 30 years I never thought the sleep at the firehouse was the same rest I got at home.

[douglaspalma]

Right about sleep & another thing is sound one thing that could help is having a tone and light alarm like South Metro fire rescue in centennial, co has in their stations instead of the blaring alarm that they have

[harrisonwilkens]

The dinner table is where all the worlds problems get solved

[Mitsuolevel]

I think a few stations south metro Colorado has pod alarms where only who is needed is woken up

[brysonflippin]

I would recommend changing “night shift” to 24 hours. We don’t have day and night shifts. Just 24 hours shifts and off for 48 hours

[CACAoutdoors]

You should look into cal fire if you haven’t already

[Sharkbite]

Interesting seeing the types of calls, lot of medical calls. Is that usual for firefighters in the US to be called to those?

[peterb]

And that my friends is why ya ride the truck they slept through the night while the engine ran ems lol

[rasputin]

an unusual enlightened chief, my worst day was 23 runs or move up in 24 hr shift, due to an a-hole chief. I walked in monday and quit on the spot ( I had 25 yrs in)

[DavidCostello-et]

Where was this dude around about 45 years ago?

[Dylan-thul]

you need to come to la city fire department

[LilTBabyy]

I dare you to try and work a 12 hour night shift at a assisted or dementia care unit. Your not a loud to sleep on clock. Especially the hospital. Talk about exhausted

[RosieSullivan-ke]

He used the Q-word. you need to come to la city fire department.