{
  "abstract": "Objective Firefighters’ schedules and work-related sleep conditions are unusual. Previous studies have shown that firefighters have concerns about their sleep health and are interested in improving it. Considering the complexity of firefighter sleep and the population’s interest in the matter, focus group discussions offer clarification and guidance for further scientific exploration into this issue. The objective of this study is to describe the experiences of firefighters with sleep.Material and Methods Focus-group interviews were conducted to explore firefighters’ experiences, emphasizing their sleep hygiene practices and sleep environments at home and the fire station. Each of the six groups was comprised of five career firefighters from one of two urban departments in the Midwest region of the United States. The departments differed in terms of shift schedules, fire station environments and available sleep hygiene accommodations.. An independent, multi-rater thematic analysis was conducted, and themes were generated through an iterative analysis.Results Firefighters identified several environmental factors in fire stations that impact their sleep and ability to practice sleep hygiene, including the station’s type of alerting system, layout of dormitories, access to necessary equipment (e.g., CPAP machine), temperature control, and cohabitation with coworkers. They also identified influential work-related factors, like call volumes, shift schedules, department policies, and non-emergency scheduling. Off-duty barriers to sleep centered around obligations to families and secondary employment.Conclusion Firefighters identified on- and off-duty challenges maintaining good sleep hygiene. Improvements to sleep environments, policies, and non-emergency scheduling could support better sleep hygiene among firefighters while on-duty. Similarly, their off-duty sleep would benefit from improved sleep hygiene and strategic scheduling on days off to include restorative rest. This is particularly important for firefighters with responsibilities to partners, children, and/or second jobs to consider.Funding This study was funded by the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety CDC/NIOSH 5T42OH008434-19.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Minnesota Environmental Health Sciences"
      ],
      "name": "Bridget Bender"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Minnesota Environmental Health Sciences"
      ],
      "name": "Hyun Kim"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Minnesota Environmental Health Sciences"
      ],
      "name": "Bruce H Alexander"
    }
  ],
  "title": "8287663 Sleeping on the Job: a qualitative thematic analysis of focus group interviews with firefighters",
  "uid": "a010960e-312a-5c6a-a71b-38eb76a53d12"
}