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Rich Gasaway

Richard B. Gasaway served 33 years on the front lines as a firefighter, EMT-Paramedic and fire chief. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree while studying how individuals, teams and organizations develop and maintain situational awareness and make decisions in high stress, high consequence, time compressed environments. Dr. Gasaway is widely considered to be one of the nation's leading authorities on first responder situational awareness and decision making. His material has been featured and referenced in more than 400 book chapters, research projects, journal articles, podcasts, webinars and videos. His research and passion to improve workplace safety through improved situational awareness is unrivaled. Dr. Gasaway's leadership and safety programs have been presented to more than 42,000 first responders, emergency managers, medical providers, military personnel, aviation employees, industrial workers and business leaders throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Episode 148 | James Johnson Interview on Building Construction

2 Comments / Building Construction, Close Call, Competency, Culture, Decision Making, Experience, Line of Duty Death, Personnel location, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Technology, Training /

In the episode I interview Journeyman Carpenter and Vancouver Firefighter James Johnson, sharing building construction lessons for firefighters. Length: 52 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check out the Situational Awareness Matters Online […]

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Explanations for Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 2

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Article, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Safety, Situational awareness, Staffing, Teamwork /

In this segment, we continue our discussion about the seemingly insane things that firefighters do at structure fires. I use the word insane not because the firefighters suffer from a mental affliction. Rather, I use the word insane because we keep doing the same things over and over again while expecting different results. This meets

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Episode 147 | The Need for Skill Rehearsal

Leave a Comment / Command Presence, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Expectations, Goals, Independent Goal Setting - Freelancing, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Workload Management /

  This episode discusses the importance of rehearsal as a means to strengthen team situational awareness. Length: 38 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check out the Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy. CLICK

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Explanations for Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 1

9 Comments / Article, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Safety, Situational awareness, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Training /

Albert Einstein is credited with saying: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” If you have spent time reading firefighter fatality reports, you might start to see the real-life manifestation of Einstein’s definition of insanity. In fact, I would go as far as to say we’ve got to

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Episode 146 | Fear and situational awareness

Leave a Comment / Attitude, Command Presence, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Defiance, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Insubordination, Judgment, Optimism, Preoccupation, SAMatters Radio, Teamwork /

In this episode, we discuss how fear can impact situational awareness in ways that might be surprising. Length: 29 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen       _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check out the Situational Awareness Matters Online

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Expect the Unexpected and Improve Your Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Article, Attention Management, Decision Making, Mental Models, Situational awareness /

The advice “expect the unexpected” can lead to a great deal of criticism. [tweet this] For example, if one can expect something to happen, then it is (technically) no longer unexpected…and so on. Setting all the hair-splitting aside, to expect the unexpected is to anticipate the possibilities of events occurring in advance of them actually

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Episode 145 | Task Saturation

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Emotions, Human Factors, Information overload, Multitasking, Neuroscience, Overload, Perception, Repetition, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Task Saturation /

In this episode, we discuss the challenges when first responders become task saturated. Length: 26 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen         _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check out the Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy. CLICK HERE for

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Distractions and Interruptions…What’s the Difference?

Leave a Comment / Article, Attention Management, Communications, Distractions and Interruptions, Personnel location, Situational awareness /

As I talk with first responders in classes about the impact of distractions and interruptions on situational awareness, I find myself often being asked: “What’s the difference?” While there are distinctly different causes for distractions and interruptions, the outcome is often very similar…a reduction in situational awareness and the potential for a catastrophic outcome. [tweet

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Episode144 | Pre-Arrival Lens

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Biases, Communications, Expectations, Neuroscience, Perception, Pre Arrival Lens, Prediction, Radios, SAMatters Radio /

    In this episode, we discuss the pre-arrival lens that responders use to help form situational awareness. Length: 24 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen         _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check out the Situational Awareness

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Meta Awareness & Situational Awareness

2 Comments / Article, Attention Management, Decision Making, Meta Awareness, Situational awareness /

  Meta awareness means being consciously aware of your own awareness. I know that sounds redundant, so let me explain. One of the things responders need to understand is that situational awareness is fragile. Situational awareness can be lost in ways that are so subtle that it may erode before a responder even realizes it

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