Re: lenght of shifts

["Nancy & Thom Kane" <nanmub@cybertrails.com>]

    I would certainly agree with Paul  that patient care should be the
driving force behind any of these staffing decisions and not crew
conveniance. As Paul stated there are certainly other factors that must be
put into the equation (flight volumes, availibility of crew rest, avg length
of flight), one that wasn't mentioned that I believe factors into the crews
thought process is travel time to and from outlaying bases and how that
plays into their personal life (which certainly has some validity and impact
on crew turn over rates). The bottom line in any staffing pattern is the
crews willingness to make ongoing and honest assessments of their fatigue
level and mental acuity (of themselves and their partner) as well as
managements willingness to take an AC out of service for a period of time
for crew rest if needed.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul M. Wright, Jr." <pmwright@home.com>
To: <flightmed@flightweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 11:44 AM
Subject: RE: lenght of shifts


> Staffing pattern questions come up on Flightmed from time to time and I
> don't have any
> non-anecdotal evidence that could definitively answer your question but my
> experience tells me that there is already significant risk of fatigue at 5
> shifts in a row and that risk would almost certainly be increased at 7
> shifts in a row.  Of course, a lot also depends on the nature of your
> staffing model (whether you are responsible for other duties within a
> hospital, whether you are allowed to "rest" during duty hours, your
> program's flight volume and average length of flight, etc.).
>
> One other thought that comes to mind is that I don't recall anyone on this
> list advocating for an alternate staffing pattern for the purpose of
> providing better patient care.  It seems to be all about what is
attractive
> and convenient from a staff point of view with an underlying assumption
that
> there is some point at which some level of performance degradation is
> acceptable to accomplish that.
>
> Based on my experience, my opinion is that the staffing patterns most
> coveted and sought by staff are often at odds with the best patient care
and
> the most highly productive work environment.
>
> As a result, I think we should be going the other way although I don't
> expect to find much agreement on that point.
>
> regards!
>
> paul
>
> Paul M. Wright, Jr.
> Mesa, AZ
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: flightmed-admin@flightweb.com
> [mailto:flightmed-admin@flightweb.com]On Behalf Of Bert Sullivan
> Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 12:25 AM
> To: flightmed@flightweb.com
> Subject: lenght of shifts
>
>
> What type of shifts does your program work ie..12hr/24hr and days on days
> off etc?
> And does anyone have information or studies done on fatigue related to  a
> work week longer than 7 days.  We want to go to a schedule of 12 hour
shifts
> 7 days on and 7 days off. Our program director thinks that  it is unsafe
to
> work 7 days in a row.
>
>
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