AMSA has launched their new blog: AMSA on Call. One of their more recent posts, written by AMSA's Health Justice Fellow Dan Henderson, deals with resident work hours. Here it is:
The long hours worked by residents are somewhat unique, but their vulnerability to fatigue is perfectly common. In fact, because of this propensity of people to defy the limits of sleep-deprivation, I was almost never born.
Many years ago, my father (then just a twenty-something North Carolinian named David) was at the wheel of his family’s Skymist Blue 1962 Ford Falcon headed for Elkins, West Virginia. He had worked a 14-hour shift at a hardware store the evening before, and then endured a white-knuckle drive through the mountains of West Virginia. Around two or three in the morning, he was driving along at 55 mph, and realized he was drowsy. The next thing he knew, the car was stopped in the shoulder of. The engine was off, and for some reason, the clutch wouldn’t budge. The dash was completely lit up, and an acrid scent filled the cabin. What had happened?
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