Fatigue and the Critical Care Doctor
OVERVIEW
- Fatigue = sleep and rest deprivation that negatively impacts on performance
EFFECTS OF FATIGUE
Fatigue impairs:
- vigilance
- responsiveness
- judgement
- 17 hours of wakefulness = blood alcohol of 0.05%
- 24 hours of wakefulness = blood alcohol of 0.1%
- high risk times: 0300 -> 0700 and 1300 -> 1600
THINGS TO DO
- get adequate sleep regularly
- eat well
- sleep during afternoon before nights
- nap on nights
- when woken don’t rush -> need 15-30min to wake up
- don’t use coffee or stimulants
- have descent rostering
- don’t continue working if fatigued
- call for assistance if fatigued
- have some leisure activities
- take breaks during work
- have holidays
Critical Care
Compendium
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at The Alfred ICU, where he is Deputy Director (Education). He is a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University, the Lead for the Clinician Educator Incubator programme, and a CICM First Part Examiner.
He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives. He was one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) has been recognised for his contributions to education with awards from ANZICS, ANZAHPE, and ACEM.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Bluesky, he is @precordialthump.bsky.social and on the site that Elon has screwed up, he is @precordialthump.
| INTENSIVE | RAGE | Resuscitology | SMACC
