UPMC Invites Participants For Sleep Study

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 9:13 PM

At Western Psychiatric Institute, one of the top sleep research centers in the country, medical professionals are using sleep deprivation to help people with insomnia, a condition where the brain is hyper-aroused 24 hours a day.

“We shorten their time in bed and make the sleep more consolidated and deeper,” said the center’s Dr. Dan Buysse. “The obvious and deceptive answer is get more sleep, there is not a substitute for sleep.”

At Stat Medevac, where pilots work 12-hour shifts and paramedics and nurses can work up to 24 hours a day, getting enough Zs is part of the job. “It is very important that you sleep well at night. You don’t want to come into this job with three or four hours sleep,” said flight nurse Marion Jones.

Despite shift changes, even within a week, Stat Medevac crews are trained in how to recognize fatigue, get enough rest and watch out for each other. “If you see another crew member who is tired, don’t hesitate to say, ‘Hey, you need a time out, you need a break,’” said pilot Kristen Bowden.

Base manager Mike Stit remembers only once calling for crew rest for himself, which means four hours of uninterrupted sleep. “It gives me a break from the action we went through. And when we wake up in four hours, it is a refreshing feeling,” Stit said.

Wiggin reported that UPMC emergency physicians studied Stat Medevac crews to see if taxing shift changes and long shifts affected their performance. Because of the safety measures in place, the finding was there was no drop-off in performance.

Other sleep experts are calling for airlines and other businesses with shift work to build in nap times to increase safety and production standards.

UPMC is looking for people over the age of 18 to take part in studies on the causes and treatment of insomnia in adults. Call 866-647-8263 or 412-246-6400 to get involved.