International Association of Fire Fighters Local 18 / Vancouver Fire Rescue Services
VANFIRE Wellness
Sleep and Shift Work
A Firefighter’s Guide to Recovery and Resilience
High call volume. Broken sleep. Long shifts. Fast decisions that can not wait.
Firefighters are built for challenge but your brain and body still need rest.
This guide is made for those of us working 24 hour shifts. It is not about changing the work. It is about recovering well so you can keep doing what you do best, safely and for the long haul.
Shift work is not the enemy
Circadian confusion is
Your body runs on a 24 hour clock called your circadian rhythm. It is tuned by light, movement, meals, and rest. When your schedule keeps flipping between days and nights, that rhythm gets confused. That is normal. The goal is not perfect sleep. The goal is smarter sleep and small moves that let your body catch up.
3 Things Every Firefighter Should Know About Sleep
1. You can not outrun sleep debt
Sleep is like a bank account. You can dip into it but the debt builds up.
That debt hits reaction time, stress control, and mood. It makes sickness and injury recovery slower.
The good news is your body can catch up if you give it a fair shot.
2. Short sleep is not weakness
Some tours you might only get three hours of broken rest. That is not failure. That is just the job. The key is using your days off to repair and refill.
3. Sleep is your stress filter
Bad sleep makes stress heavier and patience shorter. It feeds burnout. Protecting sleep is not selfish. It is your strongest shield against mental overload.
5 Tools That Actually Work
1. Stack Sleep Before Your Tour
You can not pay off lost sleep later but you can get ahead of it.
Two nights before your long shift try to grab an extra hour or two.
Go to bed earlier or sleep in longer. Keep your room dark and cool.
Do this
Add one hour of extra rest the two nights before tour
Keep phone off the night stand so you do not scroll
Even one extra hour helps reaction and focus
Think of it like topping off your tank before a long call
2. Dump the Adrenaline After Night Calls
After a 2 or 3 am call your body is still lit up. Heart rate up, brain alert. You can not just switch it off.
Do this
Warm shower when you get back
Lights down low
Sit quiet for five minutes and breathe slow
Try a four in six out breath for a couple minutes
If you still can not sleep do not fight it, your body will drift once calm
Sleep comes when your system flips from fight and flight into rest and digest. Quiet and dim light help that switch happen faster.
3. Protect Your REM
Dream sleep is where your brain sorts and cleans up the day. Skip it and stress sticks around. Most of your REM comes late in the night so cutting sleep short wipes most of it out.
Do this
Block out light
No screens the last hour before bed
Keep room cool
After tough calls aim for a full night
Let your brain file away what happened
REM is your built in therapy session. It is what keeps things from piling up.
4. Keep Your Clock on Your Side
Your body hates flipping day to night to day again. The more steady your pattern the better you feel.
Do this
Eat about the same time every day
Workout around same time
Get sunlight within thirty minutes of waking
If you are on 24 and 72 keep your sleep and wake times close those first two days off
Keep nights dark and mornings bright
Small routines signal to your body when it is safe to rest.
5. Cut the Late Night Stimulants
Caffeine and screens keep the brain in go mode long after shift.
Do this
No coffee or energy drinks within six hours of bed
Dim lights and screens at night
Use do not disturb on your phone
If you wake up and can not get back to sleep after twenty minutes get up, stretch, breathe slow, read something light, then return when tired again
You are teaching your body that bed equals sleep not stress.
Tactical Sleep Hygiene for 24s
You do not need perfect eight hour blocks to stay healthy. Focus on consistency and quality when you can get it.
On Duty
Short naps 10 to 30 minutes when possible
Blue light glasses after dark to help your brain feel night
Use quiet time for slow breathing or music to downshift
Off Duty
Protect that first sleep after shift, this is when your brain resets hormones
Keep room dark quiet cool, blackout blinds and white noise help
Avoid caffeine after 2 pm even if dragging
Days Off
Keep a steady wake up time
Limit long naps late in the day so you can fall asleep at night
Quick Problems and Fixes
I wake up at two thirty or three and can not get back to sleep
Get out of bed after 20 to 30 minutes
Keep lights dim
Do light reading or slow breathing
Return when sleepy again
I feel wired and tired after calls
Take a warm shower
Five minutes of slow breathing
Cool and dark room
I am heading into a long tour
Bank sleep two nights before
Keep workouts light the day before
Prep blackout and cool room so recovery starts quick
Should I nap
Good if you still sleep well at night
Keep short around twenty minutes
Not too late in the day
Why Sleep Protects Long Term Health
Brain clean out happens during deep sleep. That flushes waste and keeps your mind sharp.
Mood and trauma improve with dream sleep because it helps take the sting off hard memories.
Performance climbs with better sleep. Faster decisions, better judgment, fewer mistakes.
Train Recovery Like You Train Fitness
Recovery is not soft. It is part of performance. Try stacking these simple tools into your week
Sunlight in the morning even ten minutes helps reset your clock
Breathing or calm apps before bed
Light movement or walk after long tours to settle your system
Crew Challenge for One Month
Add one hour of sleep the two nights before each tour
Skip caffeine six hours before bedtime
Sunlight within thirty minutes of waking on days off
Five minute wind down after every night call
Track your mood focus and energy for a month and see what changes.
Help Your Family Help You
Share your shift and recovery plan at home.
Put it on a fridge calendar.
Explain when you are trying to rest so they can support the plan.
The small understanding goes a long way.