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Excerpts:
ABSTRACT
Fatigue is the state of reduced human performance capability caused by an inability to continue
to cope with physiological stressors. This paper provides examples in an overview of current work on mechanisms
of fatigue and interventions to sustain performance in military operations. At least six categories of militarily-relevant
fatigue can be described: intensively demanding tasks (“overtraining” or “overload”), prolonged
wakefulness, circadian disruptions, psychosocial distractors, environmental strain, and metabolic limiters. There are
at least three major categories of mechanisms of the performance degradation: insufficient fuel, damage or pre-damage afferent
limiters, and central mechanisms. Sophisticated scientific investigations of potential Interventions must provide practical
and affordable solutions. Affordable near term potential countermeasures include: training to build resilience,
rest and recovery strategies, “pre-habilitation”(physical therapy in advance of failure), nutrition and dietary
supplements, pharmaceuticals, assistive technologies, and “mindfulness” training.
Fatigue is such a useful word that the English language has borrowed it from the French.
For this paper, the word is defined as “the state of reduced human performance capability due to inability to
continue to cope with physiological stressors.” Stressors are any challenges
to the organism that evoke a response. They may be external (e.g., ambient heat, cold, hypoxia)
or internal (e.g., metabolic, perceived psychological threats, illness). Coping is the set
of responses that sustain performance in the presence of stressors. Resilience is the relative assessment of coping
agility.
4.0 Practical Countermeasures to
fatigue... Training to build resilience
General research barriers still limit
this work, regardless of the stressor, mechanism, or proposed countermeasure. Fundamental to all of this effort is a
clear definition of practical measures of performance that can be used to determine when and how performance is degraded and
the effectiveness of countermeasures. Another key barrier is the determination of individual variability in response
to stressors and interventions.
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