I think the whole topic of sleep deprivation is interesting, because
there are two other areas in which is might be quite significant for
OE but tends to be neglected
One is safety. In my research into fatal incidents in most cases the
question of whether key decision makers had had sufficient sleep was
not asked and therefore not answered. It is a likely factor in some
accidents.
The other is teenager behaviour - sufficient sleep is an important
factor, and I think outdoor programs probably cover the spectrum from
those which can attribute some of their good results possibly to the
fact that participants catch up on sleep and then continue to operate
with enough sleep - I am thinking programs that involve retiring to
tents much earlier than usual sleeping time - to those programs which
send students home with a bigger deficit than they arrived with, due
to late nights, disturbed sleep, or early rising.
As I understand it teenagers are prone to sleep deficit because their
body clocks tend to develop a lag, so school hours often don't suit
them - by the end of the week they are sleep deprived. In the
outdoors, a simple test is whether or not program participants and
leaders have to be woken to start the day, or whether the program
starts when everyone wakes. If you are being woken by an alarm /
leader you will almost certainly be operating on a sleep deficit.
As I said, this strikes me as one of those almost too-simple factors
that might help explain outdoor programs (like 3 square meals and
limited sugar) that seems under-studied. Or maybe someone has studied
this and I missed it.
Andrew
On 15/07/2009, at 7:16 PM, Sam Moore wrote:
> As some further 'evidence'.
>
> I have had a couple of Devizes to Westminster (the 125 mile endurance
> canoe race) crews report paddling alongside other boats in the dark,
> keeping pace with them. When they get to a portage the boats just
> disappear.
>
> I guess in this case it's the lack of sleep and fatigue that has
> caused it.
>
> Sam
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Dr. Andrew Brookes http://www.latrobe.edu.au/oent/Staff/brookes_andrew.htm
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