By Battalion Chief Greg Sawyer
If you’ve been in the fire service longer than five minutes, you already know one thing: The job is getting busier. Not “a little busier.” Not “seasonal bump” busier. We’re talking nonstop, no-breaks, where-did-the-shift-go busy. Our busiest companies are operating beyond sustainable limits.
Several factors are intensifying our workload: population growth, an aging demographic, widespread reliance on 911 as primary healthcare, a worsening homeless crisis, a mental health crisis and hotter temperatures fueling more frequent fires, to name a few. The result? Soaring call volumes, often with no increased staffing.
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At my agency, the Contra Costa County (California) Fire Protection District, call volume went up by 30% in a 10-year period — with a 0% increase in staffing. Our heavy-use companies now average over 10 hours of “time on task” per 24-hour shift. That is the time from enroute to available on radio. That number alone tells a troubling story. When nearly half — or more — of a firefighter’s shift is consumed by incidents, little is left for the essential work that keeps companies effective and safe: training, apparatus checks, station maintenance, physical fitness, cooking, and even basic human needs like eating and sleeping.
We all signed up for the job knowing we wouldn’t sleep well. But what’s happening now goes way beyond a rough night. It’s long-term sleep debt, and it’s killing firefighters.
Sleep deprivation: An unspoken emergency in the fire service
Research shows that lack of sleep contributes to:
Mental and physical exhaustionBurnout and deteriorating moraleFamily and relationship strainIncreased personnel issues, including legal exposuresPoor customer serviceA drop in testosterone equivalent to aging 10 years40% reduction in learning and memory formation15x increase in vehicle accidents30% increase in dementia risk70% decrease in cancer-fighting immune cells200x increase in the likelihood of fatal cardiac eventsAltered activity in 711 genes (turning on harmful ones and turning off beneficial ones)Ineffectiveness of flu shots and other vaccines
If a piece of equipment was putting us at this level of risk, we would pull it off the rig immediately. But because it’s “just sleep,” we shrug and grab another cup of coffee.
We often preach the importance of diet and exercise — the two pillars of firefighter health. But science is clear: Sleep is the foundation. It is the world’s best performance-enhancing drug. Professional sports teams and the military have already embraced this. Lawyers call it what it truly is: risk management. Sleep deprivation is destroying firefighter health and increasing operational risk.
I worked at our busiest companies for 20 years. Then I was promoted to battalion chief and got some regular sleep for the first time in decades. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. I had no idea how badly I was affected by sleep deprivation until I finally had the chance to feel “normal.” I knew that a lot of my brothers and sisters were suffering in the same way, and I felt a calling to do something about it.
Building a solution: The rehab station concept
In 2022, we set out to try something new: The Rehab Station Experience. The idea was simple — designate a station that had a slower call volume for temporary rest and recovery for members. Think of it as a structured, department-supported way to help our busy crews pay back sleep debt and get their health back on track, without leaving the job.
We selected Station 4 in Walnut Creek, one of our slowest stations at around two calls per day. It was closed during the Great Recession but was being reopened, and we had the opportunity to capture it before anyone had the chance to bid a spot there.
Participation is optional. Companies rotate in for one full month and are backfilled with OT. Working closely with the union, we were granted permission to temporarily “violate the bid system” for a one-year trial, with the plan to vote after 12 months on whether or not to continue the program. It was so well received that after the trial, they didn’t even bother to hold a vote.
What’s inside the Rehab Station?
We didn’t mess around. Station 4 is loaded with tools that top athletes and military units are already using to improve sleep and recovery.
Sleep optimizationSleep Number bedsTempur-Pedic pillowsWeighted blanketsBedJet cooling systemsBlackout shadesHatch noise machines and gentle alarm clocksPhysical recoveryAvantikul Everest cold-plunge machineAvantikul AV2 infrared saunaShiftwave therapy chairVisits from department physical therapists from Recon Performance PTPhysiological tracking & coachingThree-month Whoop strap access (the months before, during and after Station 4 assignment)Optional sharing of anonymous sleep and recovery data with the districtBreathwork coaching from Trybe SummitsBehavioral health & mindfulnessDepartment-paid subscriptions to HeadspaceYoga instruction subscription from Firstgevity with Paige ArnoneLeadership Under Fire (LUF) firefighter resiliency trainingNutrition & educationDepartment-provided chow/staple fundSubscriptions to RescueRD dietician Megan LautzA curated library of 40-plus books on health, performance, and leadership
Bottom line: We wanted to offer members the most comprehensive wellness environment possible, and Station 4 was a fantastic testbed for department-wide improvements. Products, practices and policies that prove effective can then be rolled out department-wide. The goal is not to create a luxury outlier, it is to identify what actually works and scale it. Our department now has Sleep Number beds in all stations and a “Whoop Library” where members can check out a Whoop for 4 months at a time.
The impact is real
The Whoop data we’ve collected shows improvements in all biometrics. Sleep need, sleep actual, heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate all improve. Interestingly, though, strain scores went up. This obviously isn’t due to call volume, it’s because firefighters are exercising more, playing with their kids more, doing more chores and projects at home, and generally living a more active and fulfilled lifestyle on and off duty. They’re not short-tempered zombies anymore.
It’s important to note that this is not a “vacation station”; it’s an education and recovery hub designed to help firefighters regain baseline health and return to their home companies with stronger habits and greater resilience.
The education piece is huge, too. When firefighters understand how sleep actually works — and how much it affects performance — they go home motivated to keep the habits going year-round. The most common feedback I hear is “I had no idea how badly I needed this.”
Build your own Rehab Station
If your department is seeing rising call volume, member burnout, slow recovery, more injuries, short tempers or constant fatigue — and let’s be honest, who isn’t? — you don’t need permission to start taking this seriously. Staffing takes time, but a rehab station addresses members’ critical health need right now.
Start small if you have to. Buy blackout shades. Improve beds. Pick one slow station and rotate people through.
Identify the informal leaders who members trust. Have them rotate to the station first. Then it becomes culturally acceptable for others to take a turn. Encourage your captains to lead their crews and ask, “Hey, we’re doing this, what month do you want to go?” — not with a passive attitude but one of expectation.
What’s more: Sell the Rehab Station as a recruitment tool. People are always jealous when they hear about this program. The program shows how much the fire chief cares about his employee’s wellbeing.
Final thoughts
I was too stupid, prideful, arrogant and stubborn to do the right thing and leave my crew, bid a slow station, and take a break for a while. My identity was too wrapped up in being the guy who worked at the busy station. I was lucky to get out unscathed. I’m sure it took a few years off my life, but if I knew then what I know now, I would have bid in and out of busy stations throughout my career. That is the lesson I hope others can learn from the Rehab Station experience. The folks in Contra Costa County are learning this priceless lesson now.
Go home and talk with your union and your chief, and implement a Rehab Station at your agency. It’s worth it if we prevent one disease, one apparatus crash, one divorce, one career-ending personnel issue. Let’s stop someone from being crippled physically or mentally. Help them make it to the finish line in one piece.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Greg Sawyer is battalion chief for the Contra Costa County (California) Fire Protection District, a metropolitan agency that operates 40 companies that run over 100,000 calls for service annually. Sawyer started his fire service career in 2000, serving as a volunteer firefighter for the Ripon Fire Department, and as student resident firefighter for UC Davis Fire. Since joining Contra Costa County Fire Protection District in 2002, Sawyer has progressed through the ranks, holding full-time positions as firefighter, engineer, captain, training captain, and currently, battalion chief. He is also a strike team leader and a rescue squad officer with FEMA Task Force 4 based in Oakland. Sawyer has a bachelor’s degree in fire science.