Working on-call? You can help with my research

I am currently looking for participants to assist with my PhD research investigating the effects of operating on-call ‘from home’ on stress physiology and sleep.     

Who am I looking for?

I’m recruiting male fire and emergency service personnel in all states and territories, aged 18-75 years who operate on-call from home as first responders, duty officers or support personnel. At this stage, the research is only recruiting men, as there is only enough funding to target one group (and men and women cannot be tested together because they have different physiological responses). Once this first stage of testing is complete, I intend to also investigate how females respond in these conditions.

What does the study involve?

The study runs for two weeks. During this time participants will be required to wear an activity monitor (like a watch) and complete a sleep and work diary. Participants are also asked to collect saliva samples for the first week of the study. This study has ethics approval from the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee (2014-287).

Where is data collection conducted?

Participants are sent a study kit in the mail, and there is no need attend any testing sessions. All data collection is conducted during your normal day-to-day activities.

When does data collection begin?

Recruitment and data collection is already underway and I am looking to complete recruitment in the coming months. Participants are able to pick a two-week period that suits them and I will send out a study kit prior to the chosen date.

Why is this research so important?

Poor sleep and heightened stress may put workers at an increased risk of adverse health and safety outcomes. The unpredictability of when an emergency call may occur has been identified as a factor that may hinder workers’ ability to ’switch off’ when working on-call from home, and may potentially impact stress and sleep.

Though my research, I want to understand what happens to a person’s physiology when an emergency call occurs overnight, and what happens on nights when an individual is on-call, but no call occurs. I hope that by assessing the sleep behaviour and stress physiology of fire and emergency service workers operating on-call, we will all gain a better understanding of firefighter fatigue and work demands. This may assist policy makers and those who roster on-call shifts. It will also more accurately define the capabilities of fire and emergency service workers when they are on-call.

How do you get involved?

If you are interested in finding out more information about what the study involves, please contact me on 03 9244 5033, 0425 861 019 or sarahjah@deakin.edu.au