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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neuroergonomics
Sec. Neurotechnology and Systems Neuroergonomics
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnrgo.2024.1491941

Neuroethical Considerations and Attitudes about Neurostimulation as a Fatigue Countermeasure among Emergency Responders

Provisionally accepted
Laura Y. Cabrera Laura Y. Cabrera 1Alejandro Munoz Alejandro Munoz 1Ranjana K Mehta Ranjana K Mehta 2*
  • 1 The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 2 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    First responders play a pivotal role in ensuring the well-being of individuals during critical situations. The demanding nature of their work exposes them to prolonged shifts and unpredictable situations, leading to elevated fatigue levels. Modern countermeasures to fatigue do not provide the best results. This study evaluates the acceptance and ethical considerations of a novel fatigue countermeasure using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. To better understand first responders' perceptions and ethical concerns about this novel fatigue countermeasure in their work, we conducted semi-structured interviews with first responders (N=20). Interviews were transcribed into text and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Over half of responders (59%) were interested, but over a third had a cautionary stand. Half of the participants seemed to have positive views regarding acceptability; a few were more cautionary or hesitant. A main area of consideration was user control (75%), with the majority wanting to retain some control over when or whether to accept the stimulation. Just above half of the participants (64%) mentioned privacy concerns. Another relevant consideration, raised by 50% of participants, was safety and the potential impact of stimulation (e.g., side effects, long-term effects). Overall, participants thought they needed to understand the system better and agreed that more education and training would be required to make people more willing to use it. Our exploration into combating fatigue among first responders through tDCS has revealed promising initial reactions from the responder community. Findings from this study lay the groundwork for a promising solution, while still in a nascent design stage, to improve the effectiveness and resilience of first responders in fatiguing shifts and critical situations.

    Keywords: Neuromodulation, Fatigue, Ethics, Perspectives, first respondents

    Received: 05 Sep 2024; Accepted: 25 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cabrera, Munoz and Mehta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ranjana K Mehta, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.