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qOften inattentive and groggy, especially after a big meal, or during repetitive, boring tasks. qSuffers a temporary loss of energy in the afternoons, in a warm room or when bored. qHas brief sleep episodes, lasting a few seconds, which make for inattentiveness. qHas unintended longer episodes of sleep that occur as rapidly as seizures, with no warning. qSuffers from mood shifts, depression, irritability and has little sense of humour. qSometimes cannot cope with simple problems and a moderate workload. qDisplays an inability to maintain perspective or relax under pressure. qLacks interest in socialising with others. qOften consumes drinks and meals with a high sugar content, causing weight gain. qFeels the cold, especially late at night. Hands and feet are often chilled. qHas reduced immunity to disease and viral infection, catching any bugs doing the rounds. qDisplays little motivation to maintain present tasks or pursue new endeavours. qDisplays reduced cognitive functioning and reaction time in: concentration, memory (especially short-term), ability to handle complex tasks, logical and creative thought, assimilation and analysis of new information, critical thought, decision-making skills, vocabulary and communication, coordination and perceptual skills.

You may be highly offended to learn that these attributes are present in many traffic officers. The candidate need not be suffering from any disease; may appear healthy, well spoken, have all the right references, considerable expertise and, when necessary, unlimited experience. On the day of the interview, he or she is likely to be at his or her best.

What is more, the candidate probably wouldnt have a clue that there are times when he or she exhibits these symptoms or that he/she has ever had them. You, their potential employer, probably often display them too. They are the classic signs of sleep deprivation.

Road safety advertisements beg drivers to refrain from driving long distances after working through the day or night before they set out. A trite phrase like Dont drive tired doesnt help much unless we define tired.

One of the most striking seminars I have ever attended punted the need for us all to have a better nights sleep regularly. The introductory video clip introduced shots of major politicians in international conferences and at high-level meetings: dozing, nodding and even snoring their way through world affairs.

President Bush (the elder), President Clinton and Henry Kissinger (the video was filmed some time ago) didnt raise so much as an eyelid during discussion about the state of the starving millions and the worlds economies. They were all sound asleep. No wonder the millions are still starving!

It was a real eye-opener. For us, the delegates, it was a real wake-up call! The seminar intended to persuade us that we should all be sleeping on better beds, but few of the delegates bought new mattresses. The information we received, though, was life changing, giving new insight to fatigue that insidious little word often connected to road fatalities.

Most of us, it seems, exist in a haze of fatigue throughout most of our adult lives, because we believe we can manage with far less sleep than we actually need. Habit also plays a large part in enforcing that belief because we are used to waking to alarms, we wake at the same time even when we switch them off, and so believe that we are sleep satiated.

Back to basics

Before the electric light bulb was invented, most people slept for ten hours a night. In the last 120 years, sleeping habits, in commercially orientated, technologically advanced societies, have changed radically.

The sleep revolution has evolved far faster than our physiological ability to deal with it. We are biologically incapable of functioning competently on minimal sleep and evolution is now chasing us, in an effort to catch up with our continual lifestyle changes. Those who believe they do very well on 4-6 hours a night will, at this point, be disagreeing.

The following American statistics may convince you. Roughly 20% of night- and shift-workers suffer disproportionately from drowsiness, gastro-intestinal and cardiovascular problems, infertility, depression and accidents. Over 50% of shift-workers fall asleep on the job at least once a week. Billions are lost every year in productivity, accidents and health costs, as workers struggle to adjust to late-night working schedules.

So even if all the cadets at the countrys traffic colleges are not hopelessly sleep-deprived when first admitted for training, the chances are that within weeks of receiving their appointments, they will be.

Researching the body clock

The American Medical Association first recognised sleep medicine as a speciality in 1996, so even sleep researchers are only now coming to terms with its mysteries and beginning to fully comprehend the powerful consequences it has on our quality of life. They find that our need may be for as many as ten hours per night the amount that people in cultures free of the demands of modern industrialised society, have.

Who has time for that? We have been conditioned to believe that we can operate adequately on eight hours or less, but eight-hour sleepers who claim to be well rested, have found that their energy, vigilance and ability to process information, their critical thinking skills and creativity, all improve with an extra two hours.

The moment we lose even an hours sleep, we are prone to inattentiveness, mistakes, illness and accidents. Countries that shift to daylight-saving time experience a sharp increase of up to 7% in accidental deaths the week after the changeover.

Leisure? What leisure?

Traffic officers who regularly drive to and from provincial or national meetings (sometimes at short notice) may be unprepared for long hours behind the wheel; likewise officers on patrol, who receive accident calls towards the end of their shifts. Furthermore, no one who is even slightly fatigued should be operating heavy machinery the essence of which, every vehicle is.

In recent years we have also added to our travelling and commuting time. South Africans may believe that the positioning of townships outside the perimeters of cities was a crime against the nations workforce but, as suburbs spread to avoid urban congestion and promotion improves their salaries, many senior officers also move to live some distance from work, by choice.

They cut back on sleep to make time for activities that are more interesting, more important to them, or necessary. The employer often views overtime as part of the package. Officers themselves feel that overtime earnings are necessary to supplement their basic wages.

At the end of a long and tiring shift, parents are expected to put meals on the table, ensure that the family has clean clothing for the following day and, God forbid, help with their kids homework. Its hardly a surprise that parents feel too tired to perform these after-hours duties, let alone study themselves, in the hope of obtaining a promotion.

Traffic officers, forced to follow exhausting and punishing schedules, jeopardise both their health and performance. They endanger their careers and the long-term welfare of their families, yet many feel that they have no other option.

If we operated machinery the way we operate the human body, we would be accused of both recklessness and negligence. The cost of sleep deprivation is devastating in terms of wasted education, training, impaired performance, diminished productivity, loss of income, accidents, illness, lifestyle quality and loss of life.

Driving tired

Imagine: as the relaxation of sleep overcomes the driver, he slumps sideways over the steering wheel, jamming it with his body, while simultaneously pressing down on the accelerator.

Most drivers who fall asleep at the wheel cause their vehicles to do one of two things: they either drift off the road beyond the verge, where they often overturn, or they veer over the centre line of the road in the face of oncoming traffic. Either way, other lives are sometimes lost in the process.

It is all very well to presume that a driver who stops every two hours or every 200 kilometres will never be affected by driver fatigue in between. Sometimes the angle of the sun, extreme heat or extreme cold can result in unexpected driver fatigue and service stations are sometimes positioned so far apart to afford slight opportunity for drivers to pull over for several kilometres. Not to mention those drivers who do not get the hours of slumber to keep them alert.

Safe driving can be an obsession and many of the drivers involved in fatigue-related crashes would never have believed themselves capable of falling asleep at the wheel why dont they recognise the signs of fatigue? Well, once it hits, a driver is usually fast asleep and rolling towards possible death. Those who do survive usually dont have a clue what caused the crash. No real surprise there.

Although this sort of accident is not often reported as happening to traffic officers, surveys have proved that approximately half of any population reports occasional or regular daytime drowsiness. Why should the situation be any better amongst traffic officers, who regularly work overtime and mainly work shifts?

Sleep does not occur in response to boredom, mental or physical fatigue. It is not needed to conserve energy rest can do that. Sleep does produce dramatic measurable changes in the electrical and chemical activity of the brain, which remains very active while it banks the memories of the day, organises problems in the immediate present and prepares for the day to come.

Sleep restores, rejuvenates and energises both body and brain. The quality of an individuals sleep profoundly affects the other two-thirds of his or her life the time in which they are expected to work to full efficiency.

Asleep in the fast lane

If our traffic officers expect their best of themselves, they should not forget that sleep induces alertness, energy, good mood, healthy body weight, perception, memory, thinking, fast reactions, productivity, performance, communication skills, creativity, safety and good health.

Poor sleep patterns can result in fully-fledged sleep disorders. Sleeping disorders can lead to long-term sleep deprivation, which in turn will cause driver fatigue. Some symptoms can be rectified fairly easily, but the sufferers are often not aware that they can be helped, or indeed, that they display the symptoms.

Try this simple test on the officers within your unit or station. A change in lifestyle is advised for three or more Yes answers to the questions.

Do you ever: need an alarm clock to wake up? struggle to get out of bed in the morning? want just five more minutes in bed? have trouble concentrating and remembering? have a problem with critical thinking, problem solving and creativity? fall asleep in front of the TV? sleep through boring meetings or lectures or in warm rooms? fall asleep after heavy meals or after a small amount of alcohol? fall asleep while relaxing after dinner? fall asleep within 5 minutes of getting into bed? feel drowsy while driving? sleep late over weekends? need a nap to get through the day? have dark circles around the eyes? get tired, irritable and stressed out?

Don't most of us contend with all the above on occasions? They are common pointers to sleep deprivation pointers we mostly choose to ignore. Anyone who admits to these symptoms and also drives is severely reducing his life expectancy. Not only with regard to his driving capacity, but also regarding a pensioned old age.

Eradicating fatigue takes a lot more than getting one good night of sleep. A total reorganisation of our lives involves re-learning the gentle art of having sufficient sleep on a regular basis. For every hour we miss, we must find another hour; and we are always working in arrears.

If an officer has more sleep than usual before, say, the Easter weekend, his body and brain are likely to react just as violently as those of officers who have not. But for every hours sleep that traffic officers miss over the Easter period, they need to make up an equivalent amount, as soon as possible. This means that the few hours off-duty that they can glean, are best spend asleep in bed, not in church, sampling Easter eggs with their kids or joining the family for a slap-up lunch or braai.

Its may seem depressing, but think of all those extra years you may live to enjoy your grandchildren and their Easter eggs.

Tips for learning better sleeping habits

Worrying about lack of sleep can keep you awake. Worrying about anything can keep you awake. Clear your mind. Regular exercise raises endorphin levels. Endorphins are mood elevators and encourage more restful sleep. A brisk walk before or after your shift is better than no exercise at all. Keep mentally stimulated during the day. Eat healthily three times a day. Stop smoking. Reduce caffeine intake. Avoid alcohol near bedtime. Dont try too hard to sleep.

To increase your sleeping hours, go to sleep 5-15 minutes earlier every week. If you make a sudden, drastic change, youll wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to drop off again.

The outrageous self-abuse people have practised over the last twenty years has begun to provide enlightening information to the medical world about the ability of the human body to perform well when misused by its owner. Eating a balanced diet; finding time for exercise, socialising and relaxation; avoiding debt and getting plenty of sleep are all necessary for a healthy lifestyle.

Relying on uppers and downers to stimulate the body to do what you require of it is not intelligent and, yes, there is such a thing as a caffeine overdose (although it is uncommon). Relying on too much alcohol to induce sleep is self-defeating more than two drinks in the evening are more likely to inhibit a good nights sleep than encourage it.

Probably the most expensive accident caused by sleep deprivation?

When the Exxon Valdez, a super tanker, crashed into a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, in 1989, 258 000 barrels of crude oil were spilled and caused extensive pollution and damage to both flora and fauna. The resulting cleanup cost a cool 2 billion dollars. The mate at the helm was apparently asleep on his feet and failed to respond to simple, clear signals to turn the vessel back into the shipping lanes. Eish!

Dedicated but misguided

The majority of traffic officers believe themselves dedicated to saving lives, but are unwittingly guilty of habits no better than those of the public they serve. Take, for instance, bad sleeping habits

Ask your officers to discuss these questions with their wives/partners:

Do you: qhave trouble falling asleep? qwake up several times during the night? qwake too early but find yourself unable to get back to sleep? qwake terrified during the night without understanding why? qfall asleep during the day after high arousal (e.g. extreme anxiety)? qsnore or stop breathing during sleep? qwalk or talk in your sleep? qmove excessively in your sleep? qhurt a bed partner whilst sleeping? qbecome confused, afraid or disorientated after sundown? qstruggle to stay up late or to wake up in the morning? qstruggle to stay awake in the early evening and awake before dawn? qfeel mild pain or tingling in your legs before falling asleep? qphysically act out your dreams during the night? qfeel too anxious, depressed or worried to fall asleep?

Sleep disorders

The questions above actually relate to far more than bad sleeping habits. Sleep deprivation breeds insomnia and leads to sleep disorders. Sleep apnoea (temporary cessation of breathing) causes people to die in their sleep.

Most sleep disorders remain undiagnosed and sufferers struggle through each day feeling unmotivated and exhausted. This can lead to severe depression. Anyone who relates to one of the questions above could need to seek help from their nearest sleep clinic, to enable them to enjoy the sort of undisturbed sleep they have forgotten exists

Most universities have sleep clinics but contact details can also usually be found through local hospitals. Sleep disorders can have a simple, cost-effective cure, so it is worth following up any fears.

When nothing serious is wrong, the truth is that nothing succeeds in clearing fatigue better than sleep. One third of the population is sleeping less than six hours a night and is slowly losing its mind in the process. We are becoming a nation of walking zombies. Ten hours per night are now recommended for optimum performance most of us appear to be grossly underrating the limits of safety.

The detrimental symptoms of lack of sleep include eventual hallucinations, delusions of persecution, slowed reflexes, impaired judgement and feelings of hostility. Some of these symptoms may sound familiar to the commanding officers who interact with their staff on a daily basis, although they would be shocked to find that they may be sending officers out on patrol in the worst possible condition.

It takes only slightly impaired judgement to misjudge when overtaking and mild feelings of hostility can quickly escalate into road rage. As much as traffic officers should themselves find this information useful, so it should also offer them insight into the minds of the public with whom they deal. Helping traffic officers to recognise their own limitations and those of the public, may help them to them to deal better with their own fatigue and to respond more easily to those of the public whose stress levels are rising to the point of no control.

It is essential that traffic officers and their superiors fully understand the risk they themselves can pose to other drivers and to themselves. Here are some suggestions for getting past an unexpected dip in the psyche during a long shift: qOfficers can discover relaxation techniques by learning meditation skills. Meditation tends to refresh far quicker than sleep and training in this ancient art can vastly improve efficiency. qMeditation involves blanking out all thought for a limited period and can benefit officers by teaching them to set aside personal worries about which they can do nothing and really concentrate on the job in hand. qThe good news is that a fifteen-minute meditation break revives as well as a far longer sleep. When eyes become scratchy, dry and strained, it is time to take five with the eyes closed. Obviously not behind the wheel of a moving car. qAlthough lack of sleep and driving during normal sleeping hours (at night) or during the siesta period (have South Africans ever had one?) are the main causes of fatigue, there are many other potential causes, which can be even more dangerous because the brain cannot combat changes in the body. For instance, sugar intake and metabolism can cause severe highs and lows, especially in people who are in the early stages of diabetes. Consult a doctor if you are convinced that lack of sleep is not the cause of lassitude and exhaustion.

qHigh-energy, high-sugar drinks and fruit juices will offer a lift for a limited period once their energising effects have worn off though, they will leave officers feeling more tired than before. Better to drink milk, which takes longer to digest and contains three of the major food groups.

At least one variety of bottled water, we are warned, comes straight from the tap. Why waste money on designer drinks when South African water is sweet and safe? Freeze plastic bottles of water at home (leave uncapped to allow space for expansion) and they will defrost slowly during the course of a shift, allowing officers to sip while still cool.

Fresh air and exercise

It is fairly easy to do limited exercise while out on a shift. Deep breathing and the alternate contraction and relaxation of muscles, help circulation flow and there is little that improves the figure more than concentrated effort to hold the tummy muscles tight and sit or stand up straight for an extended period. qPlenty of fresh air is a great awakener. qDress according to the weather rather than to the season conditions during the day, even in winter, are often warm enough, in parts of the country, for short-sleeved shirts and lightweight trousers. qSnacks and lunchboxes should offer a variety of textures and tastes, salt and sweet. Better to chew on a mielie or piece of sweetcorn than to eat a pile of sandwiches. Nibbling small portions of raisins or nuts, or crunching an apple is better than eating a chocolate bar. qEating and drinking often begins to punctuate hours of boredom rather than be used for sustenance. Sugar-free chewing gum, cucumber and tomatoes are good standbys.

Mo Haarhoff is an IIB Associate and business consultant: marketing/communications writing commissioned articles editing/proof reading market research/social-science research and business writing (strategies/plans)

Research papers published: qThe Message and the Medium assessing the take-out and buy-in of road safety messages/UNIARC. qRetro-reflective material at the rear of heavy vehicles/UNIARC. qTraffic officers and trauma/UNIARC. qThe communication link/UNIARC. qSeatbelts/AA of SA. qSpeed/AA of SA. qDrunken driving/AA of SA. qAn investigation into licencetesting centres in KwaZulu-Natal/UNIARC. qTraffic officer case studies: an assessment and evaluation of possible treatment for stress and trauma within the service/UNIARC.

Research papers presented: qCorporate debt collection. qNegotiating social investment with the business sector. qRetro-reflective material at the rear of heavy vehicles. qTraffic officers and trauma. qAn investigation into driver licence testing centres in KwaZulu-Natal.

Contact: mo.studiom@eca.co.za