Health & Wellness: Firefighter Sleep Strategies to Improve Performance

Research findings consistently demonstrate the unique complexities that firefighters face regarding sleep, health and performance. Departments regularly invest in training, equipment and apparatus. However, improving sleep remains largely overlooked despite its direct effect on firefighter readiness and wellness. Fortunately, thoughtful interventions can deliver meaningful enhancements to firefighter sleep and overall departmental performance.

Understanding the problem

The 24-hour nature of firefighting frequently forces firefighters to suddenly awaken from sleep. This simple fact is likely the largest contributor to poor, irregular sleep. Fragmented sleep, combined with shift-schedule variations and irregular sleeping environments, significantly effects sleep quality and duration.

Other factors that influence sleep include departmental practices, such as early-morning activities, peer pressure to wake early and cultural stigma against sleeping, which frequently limit the practical benefits of even the most sleep-friendly policies.

Moreover, findings indicate that many firefighters arrive at work sleep-deprived and return home in similar states of exhaustion, which significantly increases risks that are related to vehicle accidents, reduced attention during emergency responses and long-term health effects, such as obesity and depression.

Efforts to mitigate sleep loss effectively requires an approach that plays out on multiple levels.

Comprehensive approach

Improving sleep requires coordinated interventions. At the individual firefighter level, departments should empower personnel with practical education, including a consistent pre-sleep routine: setting a regular time to start to wind down, dimming bright lights or turning off nonessential lighting and avoiding late-evening high-energy activities). The idea: Start transitioning from a high-energy active state to a calm, relaxed state.

Careful caffeine management in the afternoon is important. (Caffeine’s half-life is between 3–7 hours).

An alternative, temporary energy boost can be obtained with strategic use of napping. That said, don’t let a nap last beyond 20 minutes, to avoid waking during deeper stages of sleep, which might leave an individual groggy.

Above all, maintain a consistent sleep schedule. This means going to bed and waking at the same time each day (workdays, non-workdays and weekends).

Company-level officers’ role

Company officers have an important role in fostering a station culture that values and supports the aforementioned individual sleep strategies and reinforces the power of group accountability and mutual respect.

Officers are uniquely positioned to influence daily routines, expectations and behaviors that support healthy sleep. They can begin by establishing and modeling a culture of rest in the evening. Leading by example is powerful. Officers being mindful of best sleep practices and lifestyle habits sends members a clear message that sleep matters. This includes discouraging loud/high-energy activities in the evening, reducing unnecessary chatter near bunkrooms, dimming station lighting in shared areas as the night progresses and promoting quiet hours after a certain time.

Further, it’s important for officers to establish expectations with newer firefighters and encourage them to prioritize rest and sleep.

Officer reminders about quiet hours, noise-free zones near bunkrooms and use of headphones can be meaningful, particularly if rotating firefighters are housed at the station. Officers can schedule nonurgent daytime tasks, such as cleaning duties, apparatus checks and report-writing, to avoid early awakenings (particularly for consolidated shift schedules, such as the 48/96).

Importantly, company officers can help to break the stigma with which some firefighters associate sleep: laziness or weakness. Research shows that firefighters often arrive at work already sleep deprived. Therefore, officers should challenge the laziness/weakness mindset by emphasizing that well-rested crews perform better, are more alert on calls and are less prone to injury.

Health and safety officers

Health and safety officers (HSOs) are key drivers of departmentwide wellness efforts and can lead the way in advancing firefighter sleep health. Their role isn’t to diagnose or treat sleep disorders but to create a department culture that values sleep, to provide tools for self-awareness and to help to connect firefighters to appropriate resources.

HSOs can promote sleep health by implementing a formal sleep wellness program. This doesn’t require medical oversight but rather a structured plan to raise awareness, provide education, and support behavior change to both the firefighter and at the station level (company-level officers).

A good starting point is offering voluntary, confidential self-assessment tools, such as the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (to identify excessive daytime sleepiness) and the STOP-Bang Questionnaire (to screen for potential obstructive sleep apnea risk). These tools empower firefighters to recognize symptoms and decide whether follow-up with a healthcare provider is warranted.

HSOs also can coordinate departmentwide regular sleep education sessions with interventions that are offered during training days, as part of wellness weeks, online through brief videos or via printable resources. Topics can include sleep hygiene (routines, light/dark cycles, caffeine, napping), how shift work affects circadian rhythms, how to complete and interpret sleep assessments, and when and how to seek care from a sleep specialist.

To reinforce the program, HSOs can advocate for policy on discouraging unnecessary overnight disruptions, promoting napping policies, and working with leadership to evaluate shift schedules/start times and station routines that interfere with sleep.

They also can help to reduce the stigma of seeking help for fatigue/sleep problems
Lastly, HSOs can build momentum by collecting feedback via informal check-ins, short surveys and/or anonymous suggestion boxes regarding how the program is received and where adjustments are needed.

Administration’s role

Effective administrators go beyond acknowledging sleep as important and consider policy innovations (e.g., revisiting shift schedules and adjusting shift start or end times to reduce early wakeups and allowing firefighters to maintain a consistent sleep pattern on and off shift). Some departments moved start times to later in the morning, to give firefighters an extra hour of recovery that aligns better with circadian rhythms. Others implemented formal sleep and napping policies.

Administrators also can adjust operational routines that inadvertently disrupt sleep (e.g., delaying early morning apparatus checks, cleaning duties and report-writing) to reduce unnecessary early awakenings and support recovery. Some departments eliminated wake-up tones, relying instead on individual responsibility, to allow sleep for those who are in need. 

Of course, policy alone isn’t enough. Sleep, schedules and start times can be a sensitive topic. The success of changes depends heavily on how they’re introduced, developed and implemented. Effective leaders engage members in the process, solicit feedback, are willing to pilot changes with small crews or stations and clearly explain the rationale behind each decision.

Administrators shouldn’t overlook the sleep environment. Small investments, such as installing blackout curtains, replacing worn mattresses and providing white-noise machines, can yield immediate improvements. For departments that are renovating existing stations or building new ones, thoughtful architectural elements, including sound-
dampening materials, circadian lighting and strategic bunkroom placement away from high-traffic or noisy areas, can create long-term benefits.

At home

Engaging the family unit often is overlooked, but it’s an essential part of supporting firefighter sleep health, particularly for new firefighters, who might be starting a family.
Departments can help by providing educational resources and open communication about the importance of sleep, particularly in regard to how demanding shifts, nighttime disruptions and accumulated sleep debt affect the firefighter at work but also how that carries over to the household.

Strategies similar to those that are mentioned above (e.g., maintaining a quiet, dark and cool sleep environment, minimizing interruptions during rest periods, and understanding how irregular and long shifts affect sleep) can make a significant difference. Encouraging family members to respect post-shift recovery sleep helps to reinforce its importance.

When the home supports rest and understands the “why” behind it, firefighters might be more likely to recover effectively and perform at their best when they are on duty. Many firefighters sleep the least at home. Involving spouses, partners and children in the conversation builds understanding. It also eases some of the stress that comes with unpredictable call schedules and missed family events.

Moving forward

Research continues to identify innovative ways to enhance firefighter sleep and health. Currently, through the FEMA-funded Fire Investigative Research on Essential Zzz’s (FIREZzz) grant, we are studying how call burden (frequency, type, timing and duration) affects firefighter sleep. Findings from this extensive research will inform the second edition of IAFC’s The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Fire Fighters and EMS Responders, to provide comprehensive, evidence-based guidance.

By systematically addressing sleep quality through thoughtful organizational interventions and individual empowerment, departments can improve health outcomes dramatically, reduce occupational injuries, and enhance firefighter well-being and community service quality.