ACC offers tips to fight fatigue

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Krystie Martinez
  • Air Combat Command Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. --  Recently an air traffic controller was suspended after falling asleep while on duty at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center April 2011.

"There is no excuse for air traffic controllers to be sleeping on the job," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We will do everything to put an end to this."

While the potential damage from that case is extreme, the fact is fatigue can lead to dangerous situations. For example, according to Air Combat Command Safety, fatigue was the cause of 15 percent of ACC motor vehicle mishaps in 2011.

"Fatigue effects everybody, in everything we do, and we often don't know how impaired we really are," said Maj. Thomas Massa, 633rd Aerospace Medicine Squadron, Aerospace and Operational Physiology Flight commander. "Performance of a severely fatigued person is similar to an intoxicated one."

Massa recommends, "taking the keys" away from a person showing signs of severe fatigue.

"Military personnel may not be able to reliably determine if they are safe to work, and may not respond to subtle warning remarks made by peers," he said. "Their inability to adequately assess self performance may jeopardize safety."

Warning signs include lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating and irritability.

In addition, the leading causes of fatigue are lack of sleep, poor diet, decreased physical activity and stress. This results in extreme sleepiness and loss of situational awareness that can make it difficult to perform ordinary tasks. Whether it is work performance, operating in a deployed environment, or taking the time to tuck the kids in at night, fatigue can reach deep into every aspect of someone's life, making it difficult to give 100 percent - on or off duty.

"If you're not getting enough rest, how true is your performance?" said Chief Master Sgt. Bionca Lindsey, ACC Surgeon General Office, Medical Enlisted Force chief. "We need everyone to be attentive, every day, all during their duty hours and after. It leads to being a good member of society and the community."

Since the loss of even one hour of sleep can cause chronic drowsiness, Lindsey recommends getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night. In addition, physical activity, maintaining a balanced diet, sufficient hydration and stress reduction techniques (such as deep breathing from the abdomen) can drastically minimize fatigue.

However, fatigue lasting two or more weeks may be the result of an underlying medical condition. Someone falling into this category should contact his or her doctor. Local safety offices, aerospace physiologists and flight medicine personnel can assist with further fatigue education and countermeasures.

"We need you," Lindsey said. "We need you to be productive and at your peak performance each and every day."