Discover the Research Behind TSR

Tactical Sleep Rescue was built incorporating foundational concepts behind First Responder Sleep Recovery and iRest utilized by the Department of Defense.

The TSR program combines scientific methods from positive psychology, neuroscience, regulation, and sleep science, to create a complete whole-person formula for sleep and recovery in the fire service.

 

Sleep Impacts on Firefighter Health & Wellbeing

  • Billings, J. and Focht, W., 2016. Firefighter shift schedules affect sleep quality. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 58(3), pp.294-298.

  • Medic, G., Wille, M. and Hemels, M.E., 2017. Short-and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption. Nature and science of sleep, pp.151-161.

  • Kaipust, C.M., Jahnke, S.A., Poston, W.S., Jitnarin, N., Haddock, C.K., Delclos, G.L. and Day, R.S., 2019. Sleep, obesity, and injury among US male career firefighters. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 61(4), pp.e150-e154.

  • Åkerstedt, T. and Wright, K.P., 2009. Sleep loss and fatigue in shift work and shift work disorder. Sleep medicine clinics, 4(2), pp.257-271.
  • Söderström, M., Jeding, K., Ekstedt, M., Perski, A. and Åkerstedt, T., 2012. Insufficient sleep predicts clinical burnout. Journal of occupational health psychology, 17(2), p.175.
  • Wolkow, A., Ferguson, S.A., Vincent, G.E., Larsen, B., Aisbett, B. and Main, L.C., 2015. The impact of sleep restriction and simulated physical firefighting work on acute inflammatory stress responses. PLoS One, 10(9), p.e0138128.
  • Wolkow, A., Aisbett, B., Reynolds, J., Ferguson, S.A. and Main, L.C., 2016. The impact of sleep restriction while performing simulated physical firefighting work on cortisol and heart rate responses. International archives of occupational and environmental health, 89, pp.461-475.

  • Barger, L.K., Rajaratnam, S.M., Wang, W., O'Brien, C.S., Sullivan, J.P., Qadri, S., Lockley, S.W., Czeisler, C.A. and Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group, 2015. Common sleep disorders increase risk of motor vehicle crashes and adverse health outcomes in firefighters. Journal of clinical sleep medicine, 11(3), pp.233-240.

  • Walker, Matthew. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (p. 3). Scribner.

  •  Irwin, Michael, J. McClintick, C. Costlow, M. Fortner, J. White, and J. C. Gillin. “Partial night sleep deprivation reduces natural killer and cellular immune responses in humans.” The FASEB journal 10, no. 5 (1996): 643–653.

  •  Irwin, Michael R., Minge Wang, Capella O. Campomayor, Alicia Collado-Hidalgo, and Steve Cole. “Sleep deprivation and activation of morning levels of cellular and genomic markers of inflammation.” Archives of internal medicine 166, no. 16 (2006): 1756–1762.https://www.immunology.org/public-information/bitesized-immunology/cells/natural-killer-cells

  •  Walker, Matthew. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (p. 184). Scribner.

  •  Fahy RF. U.S. firefighter fatalities due to sudden cardiac death, 1995–2004. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, June 2005.

  •  Cappuccio, Francesco P., Daniel Cooper, Lanfranco D’elia, Pasquale Strazzullo, and Michelle A. Miller. “Sleep duration predicts cardiovascular outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.” European heart journal32, no. 12 (2011): 1484–1492.

  •  Tochikubo, Osamu, Akihiko Ikeda, Eiji Miyajima, and Masao Ishii. “Effects of insufficient sleep on blood pressure monitored by a new multibiomedical recorder.” Hypertension 27, no. 6 (1996): 1318–1324.

  •  Walker, Matthew. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (p. 166). Scribner.Agargun, Mehmet Y., and Rosalind Cartwright. “REM sleep, dream variables and suicidality in depressed patients.” Psychiatry research 119, no. 1 (2003): 33–39.

  •  Occupation-Induced Fatigue and Impacts on Emergency First Responders: A Systematic Review 2023, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

iRest

  • Front. Neurol., 12 July 2022. Sec. Sleep Disorders, Volume 13 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2022.910794
  • Datta, K., Tripathi, M. & Mallick, H.N. Yoga Nidra: An innovative approach for management of chronic insomnia- A case report. Sleep Science Practice 1, 7 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41606-017-0009-4
  • Worley SL. The Extraordinary Importance of Sleep: The Detrimental Effects of Inadequate Sleep on Health and Public Safety Drive an Explosion of Sleep Research. P T. 2018 Dec;43(12):758-763. PMID: 30559589; PMCID: PMC6281147.
  • Sharpe E, Lacombe A, Butler MP, Hanes D, Bradley R. A Closer Look at Yoga Nidra: Sleep Lab Protocol. Int J Yoga Therap. 2021 Jan 1;31(1):Article_20. doi: 10.17761/2021-D-20-00004. PMID: 33175980; PMCID: PMC8932407.

 

Impacts of Regulation on Sleep

  • de Zambotti M, Covassin N, De Min Tona G, Sarlo M, Stegagno L. Sleep onset and cardiovascular activity in primary insomnia. J Sleep Res. 2011 Jun;20(2):318-25. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2010.00871.x. PMID: 20673289.
  •  Tomacsek V, Blaskovich B, Király A, Reichardt R, Simor P. Altered parasympathetic activity during sleep and emotionally arousing wakefulness in frequent nightmare recallers. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2024 Mar;274(2):265-277. doi: 10.1007/s00406-023-01573-2. Epub 2023 Mar 2. PMID: 36862312; PMCID: PMC10914885.
  • Jerath R, Beveridge C, Barnes VA. Self-Regulation of Breathing as an Adjunctive Treatment of Insomnia. Front Psychiatry. 2019 Jan 29;9:780. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00780. PMID: 30761030; PMCID: PMC6361823.
  • Tsai HJ, Kuo TB, Lee GS, Yang CC. Efficacy of paced breathing for insomnia: enhances vagal activity and improves sleep quality. Psychophysiology. 2015 Mar;52(3):388-96. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12333. Epub 2014 Sep 19. PMID: 25234581.
  • Turmel D, Carlier S, Bruyneel AV, Bruyneel M. Tailored individual Yoga practice improves sleep quality, fatigue, anxiety, and depression in chronic insomnia disorder. BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Apr 14;22(1):267. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-03936-w. PMID: 35421962; PMCID: PMC9012014.
  • Streeter, C. C., Gerbarg, P. L., Saper, R. B., Ciraulo, D. A., & Brown, R. P. (2012). Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), 571-579. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22365651
  •  Simon KC, McDevitt EA, Ragano R, Mednick SC. Progressive muscle relaxation increases slow-wave sleep during a daytime nap. J Sleep Res. 2022 Oct;31(5):e13574. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13574. Epub 2022 Mar 30. PMID: 35355351; PMCID: PMC9786620.
  • Xiao CX, Lin YJ, Lin RQ, Liu AN, Zhong GQ, Lan CF. Effects of progressive muscle relaxation training on negative emotions and sleep quality in COVID-19 patients: A clinical observational study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 Nov 20;99(47):e23185. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000023185. PMID: 33217826; PMCID: PMC7676563.
  • Peter Kelley, 0404 Controlled Application Of Alternate Bilateral Stimulation Improves Sleep: A Pilot Study., Sleep, Volume 42, Issue Supplement_1, April 2019, Pages A163–A164, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsz067.403
  • Rusch HL, Rosario M, Levison LM, Olivera A, Livingston WS, Wu T, Gill JM. The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019 Jun;1445(1):5-16. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13996. Epub 2018 Dec 21. PMID: 30575050; PMCID: PMC6557693.
  • Black DS, O'Reilly GA, Olmstead R, Breen EC, Irwin MR. Mindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbances: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 Apr;175(4):494-501. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8081. PMID: 25686304; PMCID: PMC4407465.