How long have you gone without....

[Walt34]

No, not that! Sleep. Your longest day.

Mine was a 48-hour day. Got up at 6:00 AM after 3 days off day work shift and had to work midnight shift, had court the next day and was there until 5:00 PM, go home, change, no time to sleep, go to work midnight shift, court again the next day all day, same thing again, work midnight shift, get off work at 6:00 AM. Could barely drive home. Just collapsed on arrival.

 

[Meadbh]

My personal record is 60 hours. That was when I was an intern.

This is how I was feeling and performing towards the end:

 

[P.S.]

41 hours, all spent working, on my feet most of the whole time, when I was a second year neurosurgery resident (from which I have since resigned).
The last 4 hours of which was spent draining blood from a head (supervised). Arrived at 5 one day and left around 10 pm the next. 6 hours of sleep, then back to work.

Hmmm...considering how much I now work and sleep, I have become soft and weak.

 

[RunningBum]

Probably 40-42 hours. I've done a few all night drives. On most of them I stop and take an hour or two catnap, or caught a nap before or after the drive, but I'm pretty sure for a couple of them I went straight from one morning til the next night with no sleep.

 

[P.S.]

actually before the AMA set resident work week limits, 36-37 hour days were common, and probably most people worked several every week, with regular 12-14 h days in between. I think it just wasn't common to stay past 9 pm on the day post call.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Every third night for about 6 months as an intern: 7 am day 1 to 7 pm day2 every third night. Couple of 48 hour shifts thrown in here and there.

It would be illegal today.

 

[Rustic23]

59 hours, that included three 5 hour combat missions, two, two hour student sorties, and a three hours ferry flight. It was a very long two days!

 

[Caoineag]

I think 48 was my longest but that was while doing a college paper for mid terms. Scariest was 36 hours because we drove the last 24 hours of that and were definitely micronapping at that point. We did promise ourselves we would never again do something so stupid (not that we did it on purpose, but still).

 

[Walt34]

It would be illegal today.

So glad to hear that - I remember reading about the change and thinking "I do NOT want to be treated by a physician who's asleep on his/her feet." Just crazy to deliberately abuse anyone that way.

 

[Caroline]

Hmmmm. How long I've gone without sleep and my "longest day" are two different things! ;-D

My "longest day" was only 36 hours, but gawdalmighty... It was in Africa, when we climbed Kilimanjaro.


ITINERARY

8:00 am: wake, eat, climb 12 hours to basecamp.

8:00 pm: arrive at base camp (after 5 days of all-day hiking). Eat, pack for the summit push, try but fail to sleep until 11:00. Ruminate on ordeal ahead and ponder fact that I volunteered for this.

11:00: rise, have tea, leave for summit. Climb for 7 hours. Resist urge to curse guide, self, and universe -- I can't spare the oxygen.

7:00: 4,000 feet later -- the roof of Africa! 19,300+ feet. Whoo Hoo! Tell guide I can see his house from here.

3:00 pm: back at base camp -- eat. Ponder fact that I volunteered for this AND paid small fortune, to boot!

4:00 pm: set out for night camp, 7K feet below the summit (oh GAWD, my knees! Stop long enough to retrieve blown-out patella from the bushes. Continue.

7:30 pm: arrive at night camp, use last ounce of strength to remove boots.

7:35 pm: Collapse onto sleeping bag fully clothed. Feel eyes roll back in head before lapsing into coma.

 

[jIMOh]

Maybe 24-36 several times in college during exam week.

There are many stretches I can remember getting 4 hours of sleep in a 48 hour, or 8 hours of sleep in a 72 hour span when moving, when kids were born or something similar like that.

 

[Khan]

I'm a wimp: 36 hours at college between sessions.

 

[DblDoc]

On the trauma service in SF our "weekend on" started friday am @ ~ 5:30 and you went home monday evening... You would get a few cat naps throughout but it was a surreal experience walking out the door monday. Its no longer allowed by current rules.

DD

 

[DragoMuseveni]

I don't know how you docs did it. After about 30 hours or so I can barely walk in a straight line, let alone do something as complicated as surgury. Lol, I am glad I didn'g go into medicine.

 

[Meadbh]

I don't know how you docs did it. After about 30 hours or so I can barely walk in a straight line, let alone do something as complicated as surgury. Lol, I am glad I didn'g go into medicine.

Sleep deprivation for 24 hours is equivalent to being legally drunk as far as judgment goes. It also has long term effects....
Sleep deprivation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personally I always worried about the quality of my decision making when roused in the middle of the night. Apparently I was right....
Effects Of Sleep Inertia As Bad Or Worse Than Being Legally Drunk, Say Researchers

One of the principal reasons I am looking forward to ER!!!!!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

In my early 20's I had three jobs. Worked 8-5 M-F at good old Digital Equipment Corp, MWF from 6-10 and sat/sun from 9-5 at a hardware store and Friday and Saturday from midnight to 8am as the only cashier at a convenience store.

From friday morning until sunday night there wasnt a lot of time for sleep. I ate a lot of caffeine pills and used to drink coffee right out of the pot at the convenience store.

 

[Gumby]

Every third night for about 6 months as an intern: 7 am day 1 to 7 pm day2 every third night. Couple of 48 hour shifts thrown in here and there.

It would be illegal today.

Same schedule as a duty officer on a submarine in port. It's grueling.

 

[hankster]

40 hours is the longest without sleep for me. I felt and acted like I'd gotten pretty drunk, then taken a hand full of stupid pills. Thank God I didn't have to drive.

 

[Meadbh]

59 hours, that included three 5 hour combat missions, two, two hour student sorties, and a three hours ferry flight. It was a very long two days!

They let you fly a multimillion dollar plane like that?

 

[DblDoc]

They let you fly a multimillion dollar plane like that?

With Weapons?!

DD

 

[Texas Proud]

For work it is about 48 hours straight.... not fun at all...


For the longest.... back in High School we had a chess tournament that was called "The Insanity".... so..

Wake up Friday morning (say 7 as I am not sure).... go to school... after school go to the chess tournament... play the rest of the day.. 19 hours so far

Midnight Friday to midnight Sat.... 24 hours... playing chess the whole time... add 24 hours...

Midnight Sat to around 7 to 8 Sunday... 20 hours....

Go out with the guys to the bowling alley to play video and such... 4 more on Sunday and then add 8 more before going to school... for 12...

Go to school Monday... 6 more... go home and crash...

19 + 24 + 20 + 12 + 6 = 81 hours...

BTW... I lost to some 'fish' that I never should have, but beat a Master level person I should not have (well, there was a chance I could win in normal conditions, but slim)

 

[Rustic23]

With lots of weapons. It was in 1972. The North Vietnamese crossed the border and they moved our unit from Thailand to Danang in one day. We flew combat in Cambodia one day, deployed that night, briefed and flew two combat sorties the next night. Each combat sorty was 5 hours. You were not suppose to fly more than 120 hours a month, or 300 hours in a 90 day period. I reached the 300 hour mark at 22 days and had to sit down for 8 days. It was the pits, because you got all the staff stuff till you could fly again.