:: For a normal adult human to stay awake for 36 hours is unpleasant but
:: feasible most of time, given motivation. They would be somewhat
:: tired, but able to stay awake. Skipping a night is something very
:: many people have sometimes done.
: Wildepad <noreplies>
: I used to do it quite often myself. But after a certain point, you
: start doing what might be called micro-naps, just a few seconds that
: you have to jerk yourself out of.
OK, so my earlier question is answered; your scenario has it that people
who nod off (but would normally start back awake a moment later) would
be trapped. So two issues; first, this would raise the proportion of
people found in less-than-comfortable states, and/or the accident rate,
so there might be several not-yet-cleaned-up accidents in the hospital,
plus evidence of an ultra-long shift. And second, does anybody know
if one would still be subject to micro-naps if one is taking provigil
(modafinil)? I suspect a hospital staff might try it.
: Given that midnight shifts are skeleton staffs, most will go home as
: usual, possibly taking what precautions they can against viral or gas
: attack. That leaves a tiny percentage of the staff, and they've been
: harried for hours, and there's nothing they can do to stop the
: problem, and a quick nap can't hurt . . .
That might get a few. But folks would notice that pattern.
Might attribute the first few to contagion, but still. And even
if an infectious agent is assumed, it seems only to become active
in people who sleep.
: It won't be until someone in the hospital takes a nap and can't be
: awakened that anyone will suspect the truth, and sleeping during
: working hours is usually frowned on.
:
: Even then, what are they going to tell people? You can't go on the
: air and say: "We think that anyone who goes to sleep won't wake up.
: We don't know why, or how long it'll last, or what anyone can do about
: it, but be warned that taking a nap might prove fatal."
OK. However, the hospital staff would know, and might either take
effective action to keep at least some awake, or record this fact
prominently. If not prominently, a more thorough look for local evidence
might well find it. So you have to presume both a) provigil (or similar)
wasn't used soon enough or on enough staff, or for some reason doesn't
work, and, b) the waker doesn't search very thoroughly for local evidence.
These are not prohibitively implausible, I suppose.
But if provigil (or similar) works, I'd expect there to be a larger
military and/or emergency worker presense, and possibly EBS broadcasts.
Maybe not, but it seems reasonably likely.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil
[...]
Military use
[...]
One study on helicopter pilots suggested that 600 mg of modafinil
given in three doses can be used to keep pilots alert and maintain
their accuracy at pre-deprivation levels for 40 hours without sleep.
Xref: When the Waker Sleeps, by Ron Goulart
Wayne Throop throopw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://sheol.org/throopw
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