Today, March 13, 2020, is World Sleep Day. Started in 2008, it was designed to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life. By 2019, 58 countries had joined in the World Sleep Day movement (www.worldsleepday.org) to further promote the messages of health and sleep and how they go ‘hand in hand’.
While these images of a world population - who need to be aware of sleep and how it affects each one of us - looms large in this messaging, it also brings to mind our current world health concern regarding COVID 19. While our modern day global society is now very accustomed to being awake and providing services and medical care and transportation 24/7, we know that the human body is “wired” to sleep at night. Disruptions in the body’s natural rhythms can lead to affected sleep. Shift workers and truck drivers seem to be the largest populations who are at risk for these biological rhythm disorders.
The current global situation has placed increased demands on the populations who do work 24/7: The medical community. The shift workers who keep the Hospitals and pharmaceuticals open and stocked, the truck drivers who are delivering these goods- food- medicines and every other modern need well stocked and available are working long, hard hours throughout the day and night to care for those of us who may have this virus. And for every other health need that exists and in need of treatment, their responsibilities and their burden has increased.
This is not just in the USA – it has affected most of the world. However the statistics of what shift work and sleep deprivation can do to a person remains under constant research.
One study has shown that some of the most significant human error situations have happened during night shift hours.
Another study has shown that 28% of commercial truck drivers have some type of Sleep Apnea.
When you think that the modern day US the trucking industry alone employs about 8.9 million people, a huge amount of people! isn’t it time to work with these vital truck drivers and help them tackle sleep disorders instead of placing them in fear of losing their jobs if they do have a sleep disorder?
We all need these goods and services and we expect the shelves to be full of toilet paper and other goods we want to have. Perhaps now may be the time to provide the best health care to this population so they can provide these vital services to us. Treatment of sleep disorders will help lower the accident rates and promote a healthier lifestyle for a safer society.
We hope you've found the resources from #SleepAwarenessWeek helpful! Enjoy some rest today, on #WorldSleepDay.