Sleep Deprivation in Firefighters

The study of sleep deprivation is extremely important in many regards. Humans don't perform at peak levels without adequate sleep. It will affect you not only physically but mentally as well. There are many reasons behind sleep deprivation but the reality is there is a correlation between the amount of sleep one gets and their overall level of performance. Fire fighters are one of the highest at risk careers for sleep deprivation.

There is a great video (choose New Video 2) and report that illustrates the background basics of sleep patterns and the health and performance effects of sleep deprivation. They are a project that was supported by a cooperative agreement between the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFC) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA), with assistance from the faculty of Oregon Health & Science University.

Click here to view The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Fire Fighters and EMS Responders.


Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
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Cooking with bravery

When last we met Winnipeg firefighter Jeff Derraugh, our intrepid local hero had just released his first cook book, Fire Hall Cooking With Jeff the Chef. Now, just over two years have passed and Derraugh has released a second cookbook, Where There's Food There's Firefighters: More Surefire Recipes to Feed Your Crew (Touchwood Editions, $19.95).

This husband and father of five and grandfather of two attributes the popularity of the first book to good old-fashioned-word-of-mouth. Six months after the first printing, a second was ordered.

"I wrote it to have it be conversational, so that the book is kind of "talking to you," says Derraugh, "I think it should read like a conversation, like you're there and you're kibitzing in the kitchen. It seemed to be what people liked about the first book."...[read more]

Source: Winnipeg Free Press (click for full story)

Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
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Firefighter Tribute Commentary

After all the years I’ve been dispensing advice and preaching the gospel according to me, I can’t believe I have never yet expressed appreciation and admiration for firefighters. What an oversight!

Firefighters are unique in our society…the only people whose job it is to go into an inferno, when common sense and every human instinct tells us to get out and stay out. If you come to grief, whether in a traffic or water accident, storm, flood, earthquake…you name it…you are most likely to be saved by a firefighter.

We were sitting at dinner with a firefighter on the weekend when a guest began to choke and collapsed. Immediately, our friend began using the Heimlich maneuver, a technique used to dislodge an object blocking someone's airway. I’m sure you know it works by sending a blast of air upward through the windpipe. But there’s a big difference between training practice and the real thing. It took considerable physical strength, it took considerable emotional strength and it took what seemed like forever! But it saved a person’s life which is why I vowed to take another St. John Ambulance course and went on line to print out a copy of the 4-step Heimlich procedure.

Earlier in the week, this same firefighter went through incredible anguish when two of his closest friends ran into trouble inside the burning Reed’s Restaurant in Meaford. And just the week before, he fought the toughest blaze of his thirty-year career at Chapman’s Ice Cream in Markdale.

Boy, this would not be the job for me! Honestly, until the other night I didn’t understand why a person would risk life and limb going into a building where you can’t see and you can’t breath and the flames lick at you. I told him it doesn’t make any sense to accept the cumulative damage of inhaling smoke and other toxins fighting fire after fire.

No, it’s not for me, but at least I get it now. This man doesn’t see himself as a hero, but there’s no other word for it. They are heroes and this is my salute to firefighters…thank you…because you really do put others first…you care beyond my mere words.

Source: Bayshore Broadcasting News Centre
September 15, 2009
by: Ross Kentner

Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com