Category Archives: Complacency
Radio Traffic Can Improve or Destroy Situational Awareness
When it comes to first responder radio traffic I am reminded of the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You may recall that in the story Goldilocks samples three bowls of porridge. One is too hot. One is too … Continue reading
Posted in Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Communications, Complacency, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Fear, firefighter situational awareness, human factors, Information overload, Neuroscience, Safety, Situational awareness, Stress, Training, Tunneled Senses
Tagged decision making, dispatch, emergency management, EMT, fire, fire command, fire command training, fire training, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, fireground command, fireground command decision making, fireground commander, fireground safety, haz-mat, hazardous materials, officer safety, paramedic, patient care, police officer safety, public safety, radio communications, rescue, responder safety, safety, Situational awareness matters, tactical decision making, technical rescue
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Firefighting: It’s a whole new ballgame
There is little doubt the recent recession has had a significant impact on the nation’s fire service. Hardly a day goes by where there’s not some news about an organization that had downsized, rightsized or capsized. There are all kinds … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Leadership, Mayday and RIT, Personnel location, Risk Assessment, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Workload Management
Tagged decision making, decision making under stress, fire service leadership, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, high reliability organizations, leadership, organizational culture, problem solving, resiliency, resilient problem solving, safety, situational awareness, staffing, teamwork, training
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Culture can be a Situational Awareness Barrier
Each member of the fire department is guided by a unique system of values, beliefs, assumptions and norms. Every members also brings their own unique habits and routines. What happens when you combine the values, beliefs, assumptions, norms, habits and … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Communications, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Ego and Self-Esteem, Emotions, Fear, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, Leadership, Safety, Situational awareness, Teamwork
Tagged communications, decision making, decision making under stress, fire service leadership, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, leadership, organizational culture, safety, situational awareness
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Ignoring the Signs of Danger
A lesson on situational awareness: The tones drop for a reported residential fire. On the way, dispatch reports multiple calls, confirming a working fire. On arrival the crew sees fire blowing out the B-C corner of the single story, detached … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Communications, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Fear, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, Safety, Situational awareness, size-up, Teamwork, Tunneled Senses
Tagged decision making under stress, firefighter rescue, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, flashover, flawed situational awareness, incident command, information management, mayday, situational awareness
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Twelve Ways to Situational Awareness
Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas everyone! I know everyone’s feeling particularly festive this time of year and I have caught the Christmas spirit in a very situational awareness sort of way. Surely you’ve heard of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” … Continue reading
Posted in Communications, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Gasaway Consulting Group, human factors, Incompetence, Information overload, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, size-up, Staffing, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Workload Management
Tagged communications, decision making under stress, firefighter casualties, firefighter safety, fireground command, public safety, safety, situational awareness, staffing, teamwork, training, vigilance
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Seeing the bad things coming in time to change the outcome
The mission of Situational Awareness Matters! is “Helping responders see the bad things coming… in time to change the outcome.” That is often easier said than done. In fact, the lessons that sharpen our situational awareness often comes after the … Continue reading
Posted in Complacency, Decision Making, firefighter situational awareness, Personal protective equipment, Personnel location, Risk Assessment, Safety, Situational awareness, size-up, Tunneled Senses
Tagged decision making, decision making under stress, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, line of duty death, near-miss reports, situational awareness
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The comfortable routine of complacency
We all know we have habits. Some of them are good habits. And some of them are…well… not so good. The less often talked about cousin of a habit is a routine. Habits and routines can impact situational awareness in … Continue reading
Posted in Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, human factors, Incompetence, Safety, Situational awareness
Tagged complacency, decision making, firefighter safety, habits, incident command, leadership, routines, situational awareness
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360° Size Up
Situational awareness starts with capturing clues and cues in your environment. It’s really quite a simple premise. To capture clues and cues requires seeing or hearing them. At a structure fire, the visual clues and cues occupy a finite environment- … Continue reading
Posted in Attention Management, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, firefighter situational awareness, human factors, Incompetence, Safety, Situational awareness, size-up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines
Tagged 360 degree size up, Colerain Township Fire Department, decision making, decision making under stress, Firefighter Line of Duty Death, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, firefighter training, fireground command, fireground size up, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, safety culture, size up
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Another False Alarm: A Tale of Complacency
Complacency is a big deal for first responders because it impacts your situational awareness on multiple levels. I would like to give every responder the benefit of the doubt that if or when they have found him or herself being … Continue reading
Posted in Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, human factors, Incompetence, Safety, Situational awareness
Tagged complacency, complacent mindset, decision making, fire alarm response, fire chief, firefighter, fireground command, fireground command situational awareness, fireground safety, incident awareness
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The irrational obsession with loss
There is a growing body of research revealing that many human’s have an irrational obsession with loss. Or, perhaps more accurately, an irrational obsession with AVOIDING loss. This phenomenon is something I have seen played out in my evaluation of … Continue reading
Posted in Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego and Self-Esteem, Fear, firefighter situational awareness, Leadership, Mayday and RIT, Safety, Situational awareness, Stress
Tagged decision making, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, fireground command, fireground command situational awareness, groupthink, loss aversion, obsession with loss
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