Transport and Sleep Chance can kill you. So can sleepiness. People on the Metro-North commuter train into Manhattan were expecting a normal trip one morning last December. Until something “abnormal” occurred. At 7:20 AM, the train turned into a thirty mile an hour flying at 82 miles per hour. They were heading towards Spuyten […]
Dying to Walk (4/8/13)
Moving Is walking dangerous to your health? Sometimes. Particularly when you march through city streets. A recent media friendly study looked at emergency patients hit by cars and trucks who entered Bellevue Hospital in New York. Some salient “facts”: 1. 44% were hit while in crosswalks while the light was signaling a safe time to […]
Your pilot is falling asleep on the plane. Should you be worried? (3/21/12)
Sleepy, Sleep Pilots A recent Sleep In America poll found that a quarter of pilots feel sleepy on the job. Another 60% nap on the job, and 20% feel they have made serious errors as a result of sleepiness. Why Is This Happening? Shift work. Similar problems occur with train drivers. Only about half of […]
Let air traffic controllers nap (4/20/11)
Sleeping and Flying It’s a national emergency: air traffic controllers have fallen asleep in Reno, Washington, and several other cities. Planes carrying severely ill patients arrive at airports where “nobody” is in charge. The government head of air traffic control has been asked to resign. What’s going on? It’s very much the same situation that […]
Would you snort sleeping pills to treat your feet? (Silly uses of sleeping pills – 1/27/11)
Steve Tyler Treats His Feet Not everyone snorts prescription sleeping pills to treat their feet. Aerosmith rocker Steve Tyler podiatric self-management included snorting lunesta (eszopiclone.) When he tried it while performing in South Dakota in 2009 he fell off the stage. Please don’t do this when you’re judging American Idol, okay? As fans of the […]
