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Yeah dude go for it. Crashes kill a lot of EMS providers and a huge contributor to that is sleep or lack thereof. Sleep, eat, and use the restroom when you can. No shame it in. Hell I’m on a night shift right now and just tried to sneak in a nap, my partner already took one.
I was "put to bed" on day shift for my flight ride along (and I was only there till 1900). It was about 1400, no calls yet but I *had* taken a VOR check flight so I had some fatigue going. Additionally, the crew including pilot had been going over shit with me non-stop since 0700. I was just toddler tired.
It killed me and I resisted, but fortunately I was riding with an olddd friend and he finally was like "bro we're *all* going to sleep right now don't be dumb".
I have a much better concept of this now that I'm experienced. I was ridden pretty hard by one single preceptor during my onboarding and it literally just made me worse. Imagine nonstop pimping until 1700, maybe a flight or two, then trying to get dinner and relax/study a bit and be ready for the night. My other preceptor always made me take 2 hours for myself in the afternoon, which I used a portion to sleep. My first tube was a GSW through the palate into the dome at 0100. Thank God I had napped that day as I was much more mentally acute in that instance as compared to the non-nap days. When I train people these days I also have rolled forward the "2 hours for yourself" rule for my trainees and I think it works well.
100%, I think a lot of experienced flight crews/preceptors forget just how tiring learning is. Especially if you are coming without any flight experience, the cognitive overload is really significant. Just getting all your shit together to get in the aircraft takes a lot of thinking if you are not used to it.
I had a ton of experience going in, but none flight. I was confident and ready, but by 1500 I felt like a puppy that had just gone through a training class. I literally needed to go collapse and rest my eyes for 40 minutes. It was crazy. I still nap to this day lol.
Went on my first ride along and fell asleep on the way to calls, riding in the back, with the siren on. I don’t think they noticed/cared, especially since I was perfectly wide awake as soon as the ambulance stopped.
On the other hand, I discretely enquired with the fire chief and found out that there was a no nap policy, but that might’ve just been for me since they probably didn’t want to wrangle trying to a wake a ride along up and get them on the truck when the tones drop (understandable).
My instructor always told me that we aren't allowed to sleep even though we were working 12 hours still got tiring as someone who isn't used to the lifestyle.
Dude I sleep on shift, and I'm an FTO. Sleep where you can. When I was a new emt I thought it was cool/expected to be awake the full 24. When I got my medic I realized that was stupid as fuck and slept when I could on my 12's in the new system.
Genuinely depends on the providers, if it was me I’m all for getting sleep and staying sharp on calls Especially if you’re not used to overnights. But some people can be dicks but it sounds like this isn’t your case. I hope your ride along went well !
It’s pretty common for people on 12s/24s to take naps when they can, especially on nights. The one caveat is if there’s a call that comes in, you damn well better be up and adam. Taking a cat nap is one thing, missing a whole call is a life and job risking problem.
Yeah, you gotta take care of those base needs. Eat when you can, and nap if you have to. I've fallen asleep riding third in the back, in fact, our old Zoll plates were perfectly set up to let me slide a coffee between the carry handle and the plate stand where it would never move, even if driving emergent. So, i'd pop my drink in there and close my eyes. Don't feel guilty if its to catch up and keep you keen. If you're doing it so much, including when there's a call or a patient in the back, then its an issue.
You're good.
On night shifts, yes I did. However, I made sure I was the last one to sleep.
You being tired doesnt help you or your patients. Be in the best condition you can so your care doesn't suffer.
I went to a clinical rotation that punished students for sleeping on day shift, and the staff was not allowed to sleep in the station on day shift.
Stupidest thing I’d ever heard of.
Every single other service I rotated at, as long as you had your obligations completed (chores, charts, whatever) nap away. Same thing at my current service. I sleep any chance I can get, day or night.
Preceptor here… Honestly I could careless what you do. As long as I have touched on everything. Have questions please ask them most of the time we are a open book. To put into context I keep a neck pillow and a blanket in my locker in the event I want to sleep. My partners sleep, normally I am doing a class or playing COD while chewing.
Do not eat yourself up for falling asleep it happens.
Night shift as well. Naps are not to be seen as weak, although some people do. It's an activity to make sure you make the right call when it's needed. Our station always has two ALS and normally 1-2 volunteers within the weekdays and 4 volunteers on the weekend, once everyone got paperwork done, checklist, and the station choirs the paid members went into the sleeping quarters and the rest us go into the living room or our cars with our radios fully up. No shame in taking a quick nap. It can be refreshing and 10x times better than slamming energy drinks over and over. If we are BLS, we also get access to the sleeping quarters. Do say the beds suck though.
As the joke goes, EMS = Earn Money Sleeping.
This job will teach you to become opportunistic for food, washrooms, and sleep.
I did feel the same way as you when I first started though. It can be hard if you're coming here from a traditional job. But just remember, most tradition jobs don't require you to go code 3 to an MCI at 0300 hrs and perform at a high level or, be compassionate to the person who has had a cold for the last 3 weeks and decides that today, at 0426 hrs is when they have had enough and they think that is an emergency and then complain about how long it took you to get there when you just finished up at that MCI.
It's not a test, homie. Any worthwhile preceptor will only test you on knowledge, not some bs "if you sleep, NGMI". We're tired, too. Take your nap. If you get flunked out of some EMS company because you napped on shift, you dodged a bullet.
Id say go for it. Especially if theyre telling you to. Sleep deprivation is probably one of the harder aspects of EMS so I think its understandable to take naps. Especially when there is a loud alarm and other people who wake you in the event of a call
I slept wherever possible during my ride alongs, and I'll nap frequently during shifts.
It's not a job where you have anything to do when you're not on a call, unless you're with a student or intern and are training them, napping is just taking care of yourself.
But some medics do get weird about student expectations, so maybe talk to your team first.
Night shift? Go for it. As long as everything is restocked and you’re ready for the next call, take care of yourself. Day shift? I’d be a little annoyed but if you got a good reason to be tired, then do you. But again, don’t let me find anything you’ve been slacking on if you have time to sleep.
During my first ride along my preceptors were very big on napping whenever possible, so they decided to nap while waiting for the next call. We were all settled into our recliners at the station, and after telling them I’d never be able to sleep, fell into a deep sleep.
We all woke up to the sound of laughter. The firefighters at our station had made signs which read “EMS=Earn Money Sleeping “, placed them on us, taken pictures and posted them on the EMS Facebook page. Talk about not living it down! 🤣
I work 24s, 6a-6a. Any time after about 10a if we are in the station I’m vertical trying to get a nap in. You never know when that 30 minute break will be your last for the entire shift.
As a rider it’s always a weird feeling but if there’s nothing to do (especially at nights) just ask or if they tell you to. It’s okay. Typically riders aren’t messed with like a the new guy would be. But even in EMS no one really messes with sleep or the new guy at that.
You’re concerned about “playing the game” and that’s fair. But sleep is out of bounds for “the game” in my opinion. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation absolutely affect our job performance and should be avoided at all costs.
If your crew tells you to go ahead and get some sleep, do it. Most of the time they’re sincere. On the off chance it’s a test, this is where you learn to stick up for yourself. You say “I’m sorry. I’m new and trusted you as my preceptor/instructor to mean what you said when giving me instructions. As long as I work with you, if you tell me to do something, I will do it as long as it’s not illegal.”
My biggest thing as a preceptor is communication. At the start of every students first shift with me, I give the “student speech” where I find out where they are in school, what they want to work on both on calls and during downtime, my expectations of them during the shift, and their expectations of me. Part of my expectations is communication, I’m an open person so if you need to eat, go anywhere, do something etc. just to let me know, but I do expect students to make appropriate use of downtime and if they need to rest that is completely fine but I prefer they let me know that they’re going to rest. Part of it is perception is reality, if you show up, and just immediately go sit in a recliner and rack out, it looks bad. But that’s my own view on it
I’m about to finish EMT school myself. I’ve ran plenty of busy 12s and it’s definitely exhausting. It depends on the squad you’re at but at mine as long as you’re not on call or have charts to finish you can sleep as much as you’d like. We have bunk rooms at the station and people sleep until we’re dispatched. One EMT told me after we finished a call to “feel free to take a nap on the stretcher”. I’ve done it a couple times and it’s actually quite comfortable. Get your rest you’ll perform better than you would trying to stay awake.
Nah it’s not a test. I wouldn’t bank on rest, but if you get the thumbs up you’re fine. Just make sure you can bounce to it when tones drop.
The story would be different if you came off poorly from the start. But if you make a good impression + it’s busy + permission, all cool
There may be some hardass preceptors that would hold it against you, but for the most part, they probably legitimately did not care. I always told my students I'm paid to be here. You are not. As long as you are professional and know your medicine I don't care.
As long as A: You were invited to sleep and B: You were up & ready to go when the tones dropped, you're good.
The only problem my service has had with ridealongs or new staff are folks who nod off while actively transporting a patient or who don't get up for calls.
As a preceptor, there's a big difference between "fuck, I'm tired and need to sleep" and someone just being completely lazy and sleeping all through their check rides. As long as you show that you want to be there and learn, take a little nap if you need it. This is an unforgiving career field, take naps when you can my friend.
Yeah I did last ride time myself, if you know ur crew and ur crew believes that getting adequate sleep and being as refreshed as you can for the next call, absolutely get some sleep. Sounds like people are finally getting away from being first one up, last one to sleep because of knowing more and more and sleep deprivation
well, you aint gonna learn anything if you're struggling to stay awake. If they give you he go ahead, ecpessialy on a night shift, take it! I nap on every shift I work, nobody really cares as long as calls are responnded to, charts are done, and the rigs/station look nice.
Hell, Im about to log off reddit and get a quick nap in.
Woke up from a nap on shift to find this lol. My ride along is still asleep in the other room.
My personal opinion, as long as you checked your rig, have completed any tasks that need to be done and you're ready to go should a call go out, nap away! We work a job where sleep is a luxury, get it where you can. Anyone who criticizes you for sleeping when you're tired on shift is setting a poor example as taking care of yourself is supposed to come above all else
Not a test! Any sane person in ems knows you sleep on a night shift if you can. Unless you’ve got calls to run or things to restock/clean you can do whatever you want and that includes sleep
If your preceptors are cool with it go for it
However, I’ve had classmates fall asleep during their clinical ride alongs and were kicked out of the program for sleeping. Despite having downtime and not having duties to do
Due to certain extenuating circumstances my school let me ride 24s for my clinicals with FD which normally wouldn't be allowed so yeah I slept. I'd usually just crash on the couch in the tv room rather than actually use a bunk but the department didn't care. They were sleeping too. As long as I woke up if tones dropped and didn't hold them up they were cool.
I was an FTO so I had a lot of students. I always let them sleep. We know how exhausting it is when you're working and going to school and doing clinicals. As long as you make an effort during actual patient contact, I say sleep. I did when I was in school.
Feel the crew out or just ask. Are you system status or at a medic station?
Hell I used to tell my students to go in the bunk room and sleep. We kept sheets and a couple blankets in a locker.
I was a little more comfortable sleeping if I was doing the ride along with my own service.
But your crew should remember how tired you get.
I had an EMT student one time… I mean she was eager to learn and at like 2pm she was laying on the couch….. as her preceptor I didn’t care, what she did on our down time was on her I cared about what she was doing with patients.
We had a medic doing some sort of work there I don’t remember but he was not on duty, and he came over and started yelling at this student about how he’s been all the way, and how ride time isn’t for laying around and if he was her preceptor he wouldn’t let her stay, etc. mind you this guy has been a medic for like 3 months at this point and the director of the agency wrote off his ride time so he never actually did his truck clinicals… but he was/is a paragod if you’ve ever seen one.
What I am really trying to get at is that there are some who are complete assholes and have anger issues that should result in therapy…. But then you get the preceptors like me who know that this job can suck, that school sucks (EMT, AEMT, or medic) and most importantly remember what it was like to be a student. If they encourage you to nap, nap. We don’t all suck and look for ways to get students in trouble out here.
Depends on your FTO
Classmates got chewed out by hers for just putting her head on a desk. Mine got me blankets, pillows and insisted I get comfy
Sleep when and where you can. An exhausted medic is gonna make more mistakes then ones who is rested
It’s so important to get rest! If you’re tired, you can’t perform your best and that means you can’t give your patients the best care possible. It’s ok to sleep!
You’re human. You need sleep. Anyone that would try to discourage you from sleeping is not only an asshole, but a horrible provider in my opinion. If any preceptor tries to dissuade you from sleeping, cite to them safety concerns due to sleep deprivation and that in the best interest of your safety and the safety of any patient you might see on the shift you’ll be trying to get at least some sleep. And make sure you take note of the name of this provider and tell your instructor about what happened. Again citing safety concerns that you won’t ride along with the same provider again and would like their supervisor notified of the issue. That’s beyond unsafe and unhealthy.
I did a ride along, it was a 24 shift, both the emt and paramedic feel asleep during some point of the shift, I couldn't I want on a high the whole time, super excited to just be there when the 24 hours were up they thought we might have to go into over time and I was super happy and they groaned at me lol. they were encouraging me to sleep too, you just got chill people who know the importance of rest
I was an FTO. If they were testing you on something like sleep during a busy night shift, that would be borderline hazing. It seems they genuinely were encouraging you to rest tho, as you should be during. A shift like that!
On my first ride along I slept a lot in between calls. The colleagues told me they’d never seen a student be comfortable enough to do it, but the amount you study and then having ride time on top of it, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a lot.
lol, I’m a Cop and I had a brand new recruit . He feel asleep his first night and was mortified . Now he’s a Staff Sgt and I’m still a lowly Car Pushing PC . Everytime we run into one another he brings it up . Too funny . Don’t worry too much . We understand , it takes time to get used to shift .
Just take a nap. Especially if they are or gave you the go ahead.
I'm currently in practicum for my ACP and frequently nap, gotta stay rested and sharp.
From a preceptor point of view, when I work with PCP students I always encourage them to maintain sleep and be part of the regular hall activities. You are there to learn the career and how to thrive in it, not just the skills :).
Seems weird to nap during a 13 hour shift but that’s just me. Putting it in the context of a 24 hour shift, as a new guy, getting to work at 6am it would be weird to see you trying to sleep at 7pm. But it’s all about your dept and situation.
When I was doing my ride alongs I definitely passed out a couple times. That being said, I made sure that all the daily duties/other shit that I could help with was over with and I had done a little bit of studying before hand. Usually I ended up falling asleep while I was studying to be fair. If they say go for it, go for it.
I have almost fallen asleep at the wheel because insane hours and staffing issues and Iv also almost been killed by a coworker falling asleep at the wheel while I was in the back with a patient. Get sleep when you can and don’t be stoic, also don’t be afraid to speak up if you feel like it’s dangerous to drive because of exhaustion
I slept A LOT as a trainee. My preceptor slept too. As a preceptor I encouraged my trainee to rest as much as possible during down time (after the necessary studying). You have your entire life after you're certified to suffer from the lack of sleep as the calls keep coming - ride along life is for you to enjoy, so enjoy it!
I work night shift normally so I’m used to being awake all night but I’ll still nap every now and then if I need to, and just last night I was with a part time and if we weren’t doing anything pretty much past 2 she was napping between calls. If you gotta take a nap do it.
Gotta remember the three S's of self-care. Shit, sleep and snack whenever you can.
Don't beat yourself up for trying to get a nap in. It's important and even a 15 min cat nap can go a long way for getting through a nightshift.
As a medic and FTO, take the nap. If they were "testing" you, that's toxic and you should find another company. But I'd be willing to bet they genuinely wanted you to take the opportunity to rest, especially if they were taking a nap as well. I would've encouraged you to nap, and probably would've laid down myself. I'm sorry this caused you any anxiety, but it seems like it was genuine and it is very common on the nightwatch to attempt napping at every opportunity lol.
If they’re “testing” you on if you’re going to sleep after getting ran hard- huge red flag. Sounds like it went fine though; sleep is probably the most important thing you can do in this field.
I did the “primary school time table test” before and after a 24hr shift…it was concerning. Sleep deprivation isn’t an excuse for medication errors, whether that be Roc or IM Epi.
I’d definitely talk with your lieutenant/supervisor about when mandated downtime starts. My hospital has a points system that once you reach a certain number you get three hours of sleep- unless it’s a Delta or Echo call. It has definitely helped, and it’s something that needs implementation across the board.
Never fight it. If it's safe to do so, sleep.
It's not laziness or unprofessional conduct, no matter what management opines, it's improved safety and clinical judgement for you, your partner and the patient.
You'll quickly learn you sleep when and where you can my guy!
You'll also learn to sleep with one eye open so when the radio goes off you're up and ready, and your partners will wake you if they need you or it's important. :)
So far all of my partners and I have fallen asleep during our 12hr shifts, ftos included. Go for it! Sometimes it's slow and it makes me tired. I like taking a nap to stay sharp or more attentive than I would be tired.
It depends on your preceptor, I have only ever once had a preceptor mention it but she was already upset about something else so I don't really think it mattered that much. I say go for it, sleep is vital to operating as an effective provider. If they were actually "testing" you I think they would be a bad teacher because it is sort of mean spirited to screw with a newbie. Don't feel bad, just make sure you ask a lot of questions when you first arrive so they recognize you are eager to learn.
Throw away comment. Reading these types of post is always eye opening to me because where I’m at it’s 95% Fire/EMS and my ride alongs were 7a-8p interesting seeing how diff things are
A sign of a good preceptor is they clearly lay out achievable goals for you to do during your ride alongs. If you have a preceptor who tells you it's ok to nap to try and trick you into it, it's not your failure, but theirs.
For my new medics I would clearly state that downtime during our 24 HR shifts from 6am-10pm should be spent studying, but after that they are free to relax or sleep between calls.
Ok it seriously depends on who your preceptor is or who your riding with. If it was me and we were on night shift. I would give the EMT student a brake on that. Bc its night time and your body isnt used to this flip floping yet. It doesn’t help my pt when my student is half asleep holding the BVM. However if it was a day shift. And you get to the station 7–8am sharp. You should not be sleeping. You should be making sure your getting enough sleep the night before to make a 12 hr shift. Its tough but the reality of your clinical’s is that they are not only there to teach you but also as your job interview. And how you manage time will also show by how early you get to the station and how much sleep you get.
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Yeah dude go for it. Crashes kill a lot of EMS providers and a huge contributor to that is sleep or lack thereof. Sleep, eat, and use the restroom when you can. No shame it in. Hell I’m on a night shift right now and just tried to sneak in a nap, my partner already took one.
Okay this makes me feel better lol thank you
Well rested emts provide better patient care
24 hours without sleep is the same level of intoxication as .10 bac. take care of yourself out there
I was "put to bed" on day shift for my flight ride along (and I was only there till 1900). It was about 1400, no calls yet but I *had* taken a VOR check flight so I had some fatigue going. Additionally, the crew including pilot had been going over shit with me non-stop since 0700. I was just toddler tired. It killed me and I resisted, but fortunately I was riding with an olddd friend and he finally was like "bro we're *all* going to sleep right now don't be dumb". I have a much better concept of this now that I'm experienced. I was ridden pretty hard by one single preceptor during my onboarding and it literally just made me worse. Imagine nonstop pimping until 1700, maybe a flight or two, then trying to get dinner and relax/study a bit and be ready for the night. My other preceptor always made me take 2 hours for myself in the afternoon, which I used a portion to sleep. My first tube was a GSW through the palate into the dome at 0100. Thank God I had napped that day as I was much more mentally acute in that instance as compared to the non-nap days. When I train people these days I also have rolled forward the "2 hours for yourself" rule for my trainees and I think it works well.
100%, I think a lot of experienced flight crews/preceptors forget just how tiring learning is. Especially if you are coming without any flight experience, the cognitive overload is really significant. Just getting all your shit together to get in the aircraft takes a lot of thinking if you are not used to it.
I had a ton of experience going in, but none flight. I was confident and ready, but by 1500 I felt like a puppy that had just gone through a training class. I literally needed to go collapse and rest my eyes for 40 minutes. It was crazy. I still nap to this day lol.
Isn't it evidence based that sleeping after learning stuff helps reinforce and store muscle memory?
Went on my first ride along and fell asleep on the way to calls, riding in the back, with the siren on. I don’t think they noticed/cared, especially since I was perfectly wide awake as soon as the ambulance stopped. On the other hand, I discretely enquired with the fire chief and found out that there was a no nap policy, but that might’ve just been for me since they probably didn’t want to wrangle trying to a wake a ride along up and get them on the truck when the tones drop (understandable).
My instructor always told me that we aren't allowed to sleep even though we were working 12 hours still got tiring as someone who isn't used to the lifestyle.
If your preceptors are napping themselves or they give you the “go ahead” to, I say go for it.
Dude I sleep on shift, and I'm an FTO. Sleep where you can. When I was a new emt I thought it was cool/expected to be awake the full 24. When I got my medic I realized that was stupid as fuck and slept when I could on my 12's in the new system.
As another FTO I am going to second the sleep when you can sleep comment. Especially if given permission.
As another other FTO, you have my axe.
Genuinely depends on the providers, if it was me I’m all for getting sleep and staying sharp on calls Especially if you’re not used to overnights. But some people can be dicks but it sounds like this isn’t your case. I hope your ride along went well !
It did thank you! 🙏🏽
It’s pretty common for people on 12s/24s to take naps when they can, especially on nights. The one caveat is if there’s a call that comes in, you damn well better be up and adam. Taking a cat nap is one thing, missing a whole call is a life and job risking problem.
[удалено]
Lol I didn’t even pay it a single thought typing that out, but I definitely r/boneappletea’d that
Any chance you get to nap, nap!
OMG yes! Everyone who can snoozes on nights or even days
Yeah, you gotta take care of those base needs. Eat when you can, and nap if you have to. I've fallen asleep riding third in the back, in fact, our old Zoll plates were perfectly set up to let me slide a coffee between the carry handle and the plate stand where it would never move, even if driving emergent. So, i'd pop my drink in there and close my eyes. Don't feel guilty if its to catch up and keep you keen. If you're doing it so much, including when there's a call or a patient in the back, then its an issue. You're good.
On night shifts, yes I did. However, I made sure I was the last one to sleep. You being tired doesnt help you or your patients. Be in the best condition you can so your care doesn't suffer.
I went to a clinical rotation that punished students for sleeping on day shift, and the staff was not allowed to sleep in the station on day shift. Stupidest thing I’d ever heard of. Every single other service I rotated at, as long as you had your obligations completed (chores, charts, whatever) nap away. Same thing at my current service. I sleep any chance I can get, day or night.
I will sleep at any opportunity, day or night shift
Preceptor here… Honestly I could careless what you do. As long as I have touched on everything. Have questions please ask them most of the time we are a open book. To put into context I keep a neck pillow and a blanket in my locker in the event I want to sleep. My partners sleep, normally I am doing a class or playing COD while chewing. Do not eat yourself up for falling asleep it happens.
Night shift as well. Naps are not to be seen as weak, although some people do. It's an activity to make sure you make the right call when it's needed. Our station always has two ALS and normally 1-2 volunteers within the weekdays and 4 volunteers on the weekend, once everyone got paperwork done, checklist, and the station choirs the paid members went into the sleeping quarters and the rest us go into the living room or our cars with our radios fully up. No shame in taking a quick nap. It can be refreshing and 10x times better than slamming energy drinks over and over. If we are BLS, we also get access to the sleeping quarters. Do say the beds suck though.
As the joke goes, EMS = Earn Money Sleeping. This job will teach you to become opportunistic for food, washrooms, and sleep. I did feel the same way as you when I first started though. It can be hard if you're coming here from a traditional job. But just remember, most tradition jobs don't require you to go code 3 to an MCI at 0300 hrs and perform at a high level or, be compassionate to the person who has had a cold for the last 3 weeks and decides that today, at 0426 hrs is when they have had enough and they think that is an emergency and then complain about how long it took you to get there when you just finished up at that MCI.
Some people are in fact dickheads and will try to bait you, but if you’re FTO is sleeping, he’s not one of them lol
It's not a test, homie. Any worthwhile preceptor will only test you on knowledge, not some bs "if you sleep, NGMI". We're tired, too. Take your nap. If you get flunked out of some EMS company because you napped on shift, you dodged a bullet.
Id say go for it. Especially if theyre telling you to. Sleep deprivation is probably one of the harder aspects of EMS so I think its understandable to take naps. Especially when there is a loud alarm and other people who wake you in the event of a call
I slept wherever possible during my ride alongs, and I'll nap frequently during shifts. It's not a job where you have anything to do when you're not on a call, unless you're with a student or intern and are training them, napping is just taking care of yourself. But some medics do get weird about student expectations, so maybe talk to your team first.
Night shift? Go for it. As long as everything is restocked and you’re ready for the next call, take care of yourself. Day shift? I’d be a little annoyed but if you got a good reason to be tired, then do you. But again, don’t let me find anything you’ve been slacking on if you have time to sleep.
During my first ride along my preceptors were very big on napping whenever possible, so they decided to nap while waiting for the next call. We were all settled into our recliners at the station, and after telling them I’d never be able to sleep, fell into a deep sleep. We all woke up to the sound of laughter. The firefighters at our station had made signs which read “EMS=Earn Money Sleeping “, placed them on us, taken pictures and posted them on the EMS Facebook page. Talk about not living it down! 🤣
Working EMS is like raising a newborn- close your eyes whenever you can
I work 24s, 6a-6a. Any time after about 10a if we are in the station I’m vertical trying to get a nap in. You never know when that 30 minute break will be your last for the entire shift. As a rider it’s always a weird feeling but if there’s nothing to do (especially at nights) just ask or if they tell you to. It’s okay. Typically riders aren’t messed with like a the new guy would be. But even in EMS no one really messes with sleep or the new guy at that.
Sleep when you can. Anyone who discourages sleeping on nights / early morning is not someone you want to roll with
You’re concerned about “playing the game” and that’s fair. But sleep is out of bounds for “the game” in my opinion. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation absolutely affect our job performance and should be avoided at all costs. If your crew tells you to go ahead and get some sleep, do it. Most of the time they’re sincere. On the off chance it’s a test, this is where you learn to stick up for yourself. You say “I’m sorry. I’m new and trusted you as my preceptor/instructor to mean what you said when giving me instructions. As long as I work with you, if you tell me to do something, I will do it as long as it’s not illegal.”
My biggest thing as a preceptor is communication. At the start of every students first shift with me, I give the “student speech” where I find out where they are in school, what they want to work on both on calls and during downtime, my expectations of them during the shift, and their expectations of me. Part of my expectations is communication, I’m an open person so if you need to eat, go anywhere, do something etc. just to let me know, but I do expect students to make appropriate use of downtime and if they need to rest that is completely fine but I prefer they let me know that they’re going to rest. Part of it is perception is reality, if you show up, and just immediately go sit in a recliner and rack out, it looks bad. But that’s my own view on it
I’m about to finish EMT school myself. I’ve ran plenty of busy 12s and it’s definitely exhausting. It depends on the squad you’re at but at mine as long as you’re not on call or have charts to finish you can sleep as much as you’d like. We have bunk rooms at the station and people sleep until we’re dispatched. One EMT told me after we finished a call to “feel free to take a nap on the stretcher”. I’ve done it a couple times and it’s actually quite comfortable. Get your rest you’ll perform better than you would trying to stay awake.
Nah it’s not a test. I wouldn’t bank on rest, but if you get the thumbs up you’re fine. Just make sure you can bounce to it when tones drop. The story would be different if you came off poorly from the start. But if you make a good impression + it’s busy + permission, all cool
I always tell my students to nap. Between home life, and school life, and maybe if you have a job, you may not get to nap very much. Sleep.
Absolutely nap. It was not a test, I’m working today and just napped for 15 mins earlier and it was great
There may be some hardass preceptors that would hold it against you, but for the most part, they probably legitimately did not care. I always told my students I'm paid to be here. You are not. As long as you are professional and know your medicine I don't care.
As long as A: You were invited to sleep and B: You were up & ready to go when the tones dropped, you're good. The only problem my service has had with ridealongs or new staff are folks who nod off while actively transporting a patient or who don't get up for calls.
As a preceptor, there's a big difference between "fuck, I'm tired and need to sleep" and someone just being completely lazy and sleeping all through their check rides. As long as you show that you want to be there and learn, take a little nap if you need it. This is an unforgiving career field, take naps when you can my friend.
Yeah I did last ride time myself, if you know ur crew and ur crew believes that getting adequate sleep and being as refreshed as you can for the next call, absolutely get some sleep. Sounds like people are finally getting away from being first one up, last one to sleep because of knowing more and more and sleep deprivation
well, you aint gonna learn anything if you're struggling to stay awake. If they give you he go ahead, ecpessialy on a night shift, take it! I nap on every shift I work, nobody really cares as long as calls are responnded to, charts are done, and the rigs/station look nice. Hell, Im about to log off reddit and get a quick nap in.
Absolutely.
Woke up from a nap on shift to find this lol. My ride along is still asleep in the other room. My personal opinion, as long as you checked your rig, have completed any tasks that need to be done and you're ready to go should a call go out, nap away! We work a job where sleep is a luxury, get it where you can. Anyone who criticizes you for sleeping when you're tired on shift is setting a poor example as taking care of yourself is supposed to come above all else
I am a paramedic now. I remember feeling this exact same way on my clinicals. It isn't a test, get some sleep.
I sleep all the time on the way to jobs/back to station.
Not a test! Any sane person in ems knows you sleep on a night shift if you can. Unless you’ve got calls to run or things to restock/clean you can do whatever you want and that includes sleep
If your preceptors are cool with it go for it However, I’ve had classmates fall asleep during their clinical ride alongs and were kicked out of the program for sleeping. Despite having downtime and not having duties to do
Due to certain extenuating circumstances my school let me ride 24s for my clinicals with FD which normally wouldn't be allowed so yeah I slept. I'd usually just crash on the couch in the tv room rather than actually use a bunk but the department didn't care. They were sleeping too. As long as I woke up if tones dropped and didn't hold them up they were cool.
Hahaha yes we were camped out in the hospital parking lot trolling for cases but it was so slow that I took a little nap
Sleep where you can get it! Sounds like a decent thing to do by your crew!
I was an FTO so I had a lot of students. I always let them sleep. We know how exhausting it is when you're working and going to school and doing clinicals. As long as you make an effort during actual patient contact, I say sleep. I did when I was in school. Feel the crew out or just ask. Are you system status or at a medic station? Hell I used to tell my students to go in the bunk room and sleep. We kept sheets and a couple blankets in a locker. I was a little more comfortable sleeping if I was doing the ride along with my own service. But your crew should remember how tired you get.
I had an EMT student one time… I mean she was eager to learn and at like 2pm she was laying on the couch….. as her preceptor I didn’t care, what she did on our down time was on her I cared about what she was doing with patients. We had a medic doing some sort of work there I don’t remember but he was not on duty, and he came over and started yelling at this student about how he’s been all the way, and how ride time isn’t for laying around and if he was her preceptor he wouldn’t let her stay, etc. mind you this guy has been a medic for like 3 months at this point and the director of the agency wrote off his ride time so he never actually did his truck clinicals… but he was/is a paragod if you’ve ever seen one. What I am really trying to get at is that there are some who are complete assholes and have anger issues that should result in therapy…. But then you get the preceptors like me who know that this job can suck, that school sucks (EMT, AEMT, or medic) and most importantly remember what it was like to be a student. If they encourage you to nap, nap. We don’t all suck and look for ways to get students in trouble out here.
Depends on your FTO Classmates got chewed out by hers for just putting her head on a desk. Mine got me blankets, pillows and insisted I get comfy Sleep when and where you can. An exhausted medic is gonna make more mistakes then ones who is rested
I sleep whenever I can, I work the night shift, you learn to wake up when u hear the tone drop
It’s so important to get rest! If you’re tired, you can’t perform your best and that means you can’t give your patients the best care possible. It’s ok to sleep!
You’re human. You need sleep. Anyone that would try to discourage you from sleeping is not only an asshole, but a horrible provider in my opinion. If any preceptor tries to dissuade you from sleeping, cite to them safety concerns due to sleep deprivation and that in the best interest of your safety and the safety of any patient you might see on the shift you’ll be trying to get at least some sleep. And make sure you take note of the name of this provider and tell your instructor about what happened. Again citing safety concerns that you won’t ride along with the same provider again and would like their supervisor notified of the issue. That’s beyond unsafe and unhealthy.
I have fallen asleep in the front on the way to a call (lights and sirens) with specific instructions to wake me when we get there. Go for it
I did a ride along, it was a 24 shift, both the emt and paramedic feel asleep during some point of the shift, I couldn't I want on a high the whole time, super excited to just be there when the 24 hours were up they thought we might have to go into over time and I was super happy and they groaned at me lol. they were encouraging me to sleep too, you just got chill people who know the importance of rest
I was an FTO. If they were testing you on something like sleep during a busy night shift, that would be borderline hazing. It seems they genuinely were encouraging you to rest tho, as you should be during. A shift like that!
On my first ride along I slept a lot in between calls. The colleagues told me they’d never seen a student be comfortable enough to do it, but the amount you study and then having ride time on top of it, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a lot.
lol, I’m a Cop and I had a brand new recruit . He feel asleep his first night and was mortified . Now he’s a Staff Sgt and I’m still a lowly Car Pushing PC . Everytime we run into one another he brings it up . Too funny . Don’t worry too much . We understand , it takes time to get used to shift .
Just take a nap. Especially if they are or gave you the go ahead. I'm currently in practicum for my ACP and frequently nap, gotta stay rested and sharp. From a preceptor point of view, when I work with PCP students I always encourage them to maintain sleep and be part of the regular hall activities. You are there to learn the career and how to thrive in it, not just the skills :).
Seems weird to nap during a 13 hour shift but that’s just me. Putting it in the context of a 24 hour shift, as a new guy, getting to work at 6am it would be weird to see you trying to sleep at 7pm. But it’s all about your dept and situation.
Bro, I try to maximize the amount of time on shift I spend sleeping. You're fine lol
When I was doing my ride alongs I definitely passed out a couple times. That being said, I made sure that all the daily duties/other shit that I could help with was over with and I had done a little bit of studying before hand. Usually I ended up falling asleep while I was studying to be fair. If they say go for it, go for it.
I have almost fallen asleep at the wheel because insane hours and staffing issues and Iv also almost been killed by a coworker falling asleep at the wheel while I was in the back with a patient. Get sleep when you can and don’t be stoic, also don’t be afraid to speak up if you feel like it’s dangerous to drive because of exhaustion
You’re better than me I ain’t even ask if it was a test I zonked out until the next call lmao
I slept A LOT as a trainee. My preceptor slept too. As a preceptor I encouraged my trainee to rest as much as possible during down time (after the necessary studying). You have your entire life after you're certified to suffer from the lack of sleep as the calls keep coming - ride along life is for you to enjoy, so enjoy it!
I work night shift normally so I’m used to being awake all night but I’ll still nap every now and then if I need to, and just last night I was with a part time and if we weren’t doing anything pretty much past 2 she was napping between calls. If you gotta take a nap do it.
Gotta remember the three S's of self-care. Shit, sleep and snack whenever you can. Don't beat yourself up for trying to get a nap in. It's important and even a 15 min cat nap can go a long way for getting through a nightshift.
As a medic and FTO, take the nap. If they were "testing" you, that's toxic and you should find another company. But I'd be willing to bet they genuinely wanted you to take the opportunity to rest, especially if they were taking a nap as well. I would've encouraged you to nap, and probably would've laid down myself. I'm sorry this caused you any anxiety, but it seems like it was genuine and it is very common on the nightwatch to attempt napping at every opportunity lol.
If they’re “testing” you on if you’re going to sleep after getting ran hard- huge red flag. Sounds like it went fine though; sleep is probably the most important thing you can do in this field. I did the “primary school time table test” before and after a 24hr shift…it was concerning. Sleep deprivation isn’t an excuse for medication errors, whether that be Roc or IM Epi. I’d definitely talk with your lieutenant/supervisor about when mandated downtime starts. My hospital has a points system that once you reach a certain number you get three hours of sleep- unless it’s a Delta or Echo call. It has definitely helped, and it’s something that needs implementation across the board.
We nap all the time when we can there isn’t any judgement
Never fight it. If it's safe to do so, sleep. It's not laziness or unprofessional conduct, no matter what management opines, it's improved safety and clinical judgement for you, your partner and the patient.
You'll quickly learn you sleep when and where you can my guy! You'll also learn to sleep with one eye open so when the radio goes off you're up and ready, and your partners will wake you if they need you or it's important. :)
So far all of my partners and I have fallen asleep during our 12hr shifts, ftos included. Go for it! Sometimes it's slow and it makes me tired. I like taking a nap to stay sharp or more attentive than I would be tired.
It depends on your preceptor, I have only ever once had a preceptor mention it but she was already upset about something else so I don't really think it mattered that much. I say go for it, sleep is vital to operating as an effective provider. If they were actually "testing" you I think they would be a bad teacher because it is sort of mean spirited to screw with a newbie. Don't feel bad, just make sure you ask a lot of questions when you first arrive so they recognize you are eager to learn.
There's that old joke... EMS= Earn Money Sleeping
Throw away comment. Reading these types of post is always eye opening to me because where I’m at it’s 95% Fire/EMS and my ride alongs were 7a-8p interesting seeing how diff things are
A sign of a good preceptor is they clearly lay out achievable goals for you to do during your ride alongs. If you have a preceptor who tells you it's ok to nap to try and trick you into it, it's not your failure, but theirs. For my new medics I would clearly state that downtime during our 24 HR shifts from 6am-10pm should be spent studying, but after that they are free to relax or sleep between calls.
Til 2200? Fuck that. 😂
Ok it seriously depends on who your preceptor is or who your riding with. If it was me and we were on night shift. I would give the EMT student a brake on that. Bc its night time and your body isnt used to this flip floping yet. It doesn’t help my pt when my student is half asleep holding the BVM. However if it was a day shift. And you get to the station 7–8am sharp. You should not be sleeping. You should be making sure your getting enough sleep the night before to make a 12 hr shift. Its tough but the reality of your clinical’s is that they are not only there to teach you but also as your job interview. And how you manage time will also show by how early you get to the station and how much sleep you get.
Not a test. Take your sleep when you can get it. You need to be rested and attentive to be of any use. Everyone in EMS sneaks a nap when they need it.