Grant: CCI Applied Research and Development Grants

In Canada, there are approximately 30,000 paramedics who serve over 39 million people. Unfortunately, paramedics are a high-risk occupational group for fatigue, which may not only endanger the health of safety of responders, but also the health and safety of the public they serve. Studies have shown that fatigued paramedics were more likely to experience workplace injuries, engage in safety-compromising behaviours, and commit medical errors. The composition of shift schedules, including their pattern and length, are predictors for adverse safety outcomes. Our research partner, the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service, sought applied research expertise from the Canadian Institute for Safety, Wellness, & Performance at Conestoga College, to investigate the impact of a new work 12-hour rotating shift schedule on their personnel’s fatigue and associated risks on health, wellbeing, and performance. This new 12-hour rotating shift schedule has not been documented and evaluated in the scientific literature, which opens an avenue of research to generate new scientific knowledge and support paramedic organizations in their shift schedule planning. Through a one-year prospective cohort study, CISWP researchers and trainees/students will gather and analyze daily event and task data, self-reported fatigue, and wrist-worn activity-based sleep metrics of paramedic participants who have been assigned to one of two shift schedules (new 12-hour rotating vs 12-hour fixed). The findings of this study will allow us to understand the effect of the new 12-hour rotating shift schedule compared to the 12-hour fixed schedule and understand the longer-term impact of the rotating schedule over the first year of its implementation. Ultimately, research findings will support paramedic services across Canada in understanding the longer-term impact of a rotating shift schedule and will support a service’s decision-making in designing the most optimal work schedule that accommodates their operations in the safest manner possible.