Sleep Your Way
1 | February 2020 | Real Hero Report
to Success
by Billy J. Grogan, Top Cop Leadership
Agood nights sleep is priceless.
For rst responders, sleep is especially important because
the lives of others are in our hands. As a rst responder or
someone serving in the military, do you believe it enough to
apply that statement to your life and the lives of those you lead
f you do, your health, your outlook on life and your ability to
lead ill improve dramacally.
Chronic sleep loss can lead to a variety of issues that negavely
aect rst responders.
Here are a fe of the recent ndings from some of these
studies.
A lack of sleep andor sleep deprivaon as a contribung
factor in many of the orlds orse disasters and accidents. he
invesgaons surrounding Chernobyl, hree ile sland, the
Challenger Eplosion, the Eon alde il Spill and American
Airlines Flight 120 Crash, all made reference to fague or lack of
sleep being a factor in these accidents.
any studies clearly make a connecon beteen chronic sleep
loss and health issues. Some of the common health concerns
include obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension,
aniety and depression.
A study conducted in the United ingdom of 1,000 adults
revealed that 25 of those ho slept less than ve hours a night
ere more forgeul.
Forgeulness can be problemac for rst responders. ur
jobs reuire aenon to detail and to be able to recall facts as
accurately as praccable.
First responders and those in the military must make splitsecond
judgments and take the appropriate acons based on those
judgments.
hese life and death decisions leave lile room for error.
ou cannot address a problem if you dont recognie that it is a
problem. Chronic sleep loss can be damaging to you, those you
ork ith, the department and the community you serve.
uard against this problem by rst making sure you get enough
sleep yourself and then by making sure condions eist that
encourage those you ork ith to get enough sleep.