Sleep During SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV)/Dry Dock Shelter Exercises Analyzed by a Graphic Approach.

Abstract

Naval Special Warfare (NSW) personnel frequently participate in missions involving extended work hours and nocturnal waking periods. This can have a negative effect on sleep patterns, which in turn could have detrimental impact on cognitive performance. Environmental factors aboard submarines that degrade quantity and quality of sleep and increase fatigue of NSW Sea-Air-Land (SEAL) personnel have been previously evaluated by Phil Hunt, CDR, MC, USN, a submarine medical officer (unpublished memorandum). Such factors include (1) persistent light, noise, crowding and activity in the berthing area, and (2) conflicts between the work/rest schedules of the submarine crew and SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV)/Dry Deck Shelter (DDS) personnel. Hunt recommended that the berthing area be made more conducive to quality sleep. He also recommended regular use of an aerobic exercise machine which, in addition to physiological benefits, may improve quality and quantity of sleep. Sleep surveys are an important tool to assist in the development of an appropriate work/rest schedule for a given mission scenario. These techniques have been used previously in relation to many different occupations, both in the military and the civilian sectors (e.g., Investigation of the Navy Workweek at Sea, 1975, by the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center, San Diego, and The Standard ShiftWork Index, 1991, by the Shiftwork Research Team at the University of Sheffield, England). A guide to optimizing sleep during special warfare operations has been published (Naitoh & Kelly, 1992); however, the sleep log/sleep questionnaire analysis techniques necessary to assess wake/sleep patterns were not explained in that report.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA290916

Entities

People

  • H. W. Goforth Jr.
  • P. Hunt
  • P. Naitoh
  • T. L. Kelly

Organizations

  • Naval Health Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biomedical Research
  • Circadian Rhythms
  • Cognitive Impairment
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Data Analysis
  • Drug Abuse
  • Efficiency
  • Health Services
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Information Science
  • Intervals
  • Questionnaires
  • Side Effects
  • Sleep Deprivation
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Surveys

Readers

  • Circadian Sleep-Wake Regulation and Chronobiology
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
  • Systems Analysis and Design