{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Just Breathe","title":"Running on Empty: Sleep, Shift Work, and the Decisions We Make","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2070,"description":"Welcome back to Just Breathe, where we explore the intersection of leadership and the science of self-regulation in public safety. This episode takes on something every first responder knows and few talk about honestly: being tired. There is tired, and then there is fatigue — and fatigue quietly changes how we process information, regulate our emotions, assess risk, communicate, and make decisions, on duty and at home.\n\nDr. Tracie L. Keesee is joined by Dr. Lois James, Professor and PhD Program Director in the Washington State University College of Nursing and Director of WSU's Sleep and Performance Research Center. Together they unpack what sleep loss does to the brain and body, why \"I'm tired, but I'm fine\" doesn't hold up, and what both individuals and agencies can change starting today.\n\nWHAT WE COVER\n\n• Why routinely getting five or six hours of sleep isn't a \"new normal\" — most adults need seven to nine hours to avoid building sleep debt.\n• How fatigue takes the prefrontal cortex offline first, eroding the self-awareness, calm, and judgment a tense encounter demands.\n• Why drowsy driving after a shift feels safe until it isn't — micro-sleeps happen even when you believe you're awake.\n• What leaders should know about shift length, shift rotation, and forward-rotating schedules, and why staffing should match actual demand.\n• Simple sleep-hygiene moves: limit handheld screens, use steady background noise, and keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet.\n• The case for on-duty napping — and how a 20-minute power nap (or a \"nappuccino\") tops up alertness without sleep inertia.\n• The one thing to start today: a self-soothing wind-down routine that lowers hypervigilance so your body can actually rest.\n• Why the culture of \"push through it\" is fading — and why the question isn't whether we can keep going, but whether we should.\n\nABOUT DR. LOIS JAMES\n\nDr. Lois James is a Professor and the PhD Program Director in the Washington State University College of Nursing, and...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/U6hooJF6wPF6fib2UIxiCJPT3haZgYLNN9HJnTMTqd4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9jZGVm/NmM3ZTQ5OTFjZjk3/NDZmZWNkYmVjN2Fj/OGFmMi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}