[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21951-21952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08464]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0121]


Developing Evidence Based Fatigue Risk Management Guidelines for 
Emergency Medical Services: First Expert Panel Meeting

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is 
announcing the first in a series of expert panel meetings to develop 
evidence based guidelines for fatigue management in the Emergency 
Medical Services (EMS) community. This meeting will focus on generating 
research questions germane to fatigue mitigation in EMS settings as 
well as inclusion criteria for the evidence based guideline literature 
review. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the meeting and 
make comments about the topic during times set aside specifically

[[Page 21952]]

for this purpose. Due to space limitations, attendance at the meeting 
is limited to invited participants and those who register in advance at 
www.emsfatigue.org. Written comments can also be made on http://www.regulations.gov (Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0121).

DATES: The meeting will be held on April 26th, 2016 from 8:00 a.m. to 
5:30 p.m. and April 27th, 2016 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the Conference Center of the 
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. J. Stephen Higgins, Telephone: 
202-366-3976; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA recently announced its new initiative 
with the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) to 
develop evidence based voluntary fatigue risk management guidelines and 
resources tailored to the EMS occupation. NHTSA has already held one 
stakeholder meeting (February 2, 2016) where the project team and 
subject matter experts presented on the potential dangers of fatigued 
driving and the work of EMS practitioners, a summary of the project 
goals and methods for coming to consensus on EBG fatigue risk 
management guidelines, the plan for dissemination of EBGs, and 
additional project related activities and information. A majority of 
the time in the meeting was set aside to accept questions and comments 
from attendees and NHTSA heard a number of suggestions. These 
suggestions will feed into the current panel meeting and will help 
direct the development of research questions and the eventual evidence 
based fatigue management guidelines.
    The goal of the first panel meeting will be to generate research 
questions germane to fatigue mitigation in EMS settings as well as 
inclusion criteria for the evidence based guideline literature review. 
The tentative agenda topics are as follows:

     Background on Fatigue in EMS and our approach to EBG 
development
     Overview of the GRADE methodology
     Expert Panel & Research Team presentations
     Panel Discussion
     Public Comment

    Due to space limitations, attendance at the meeting is limited to 
invited participants and those who register in advance. All attendees 
must bring government issued identification to gain admittance to the 
DOT Building and should arrive at least 30 minutes in advance of the 
meeting to have sufficient time to clear DOT security. Those who do not 
register in advance may not be able to attend because of limited space 
in the DOT Conference Center. To register please visit 
www.emsfatigue.org or contact Dr. Higgins by phone: 202-366-3976 (web 
registration preferred).
    Public Comment: Members of the public are encouraged to comment 
either in person at the meeting or at http://www.regulations.gov. In 
order to allow as many people as possible to provide comments at the 
meeting, speakers are requested to limit their remarks to 5 minutes. 
You may submit written comments identified by DOT Docket ID Number 
NHTSA-2015-0121 using any of the following methods:
    Electronic submissions: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
    Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays. Fax: 1-(202) 493-2251.
    Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and the 
Docket number for this Notice. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov including any 
personal information provided.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30182; 23 U.S.C. 403.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 8, 2016.
Jeff Michael,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2016-08464 Filed 4-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P