Category Archives: Human Behavior
Station Alerting Noise Can Impact Situational Awareness
Noise can erode situational awareness in many ways. Loud noises, soft noises, lots of noise, odd noises, familiar noises, annoying noises… all noise can present challenges. In this article, I want to explore some of the challenges first responders face … Continue reading
Posted in Auditory exclusion, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, human factors, Safety, Situational awareness, Technology, Tunneled Senses
Tagged decision making, firefighter situational awareness, fireground command, mental models, noise, sense making, situational awareness, station alerting systems
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Bravado: A Barrier to Situational Awareness
I recently sent out a message across my social media networks (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) about bravado being a barrier to situational awareness. The message, in case you missed it, read: Bravado: The purposeful ignorance of critical signs of danger … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego and Self-Esteem, Emotions, Fear, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, human factors, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Teamwork, Training
Tagged bravado, bravery, decision making, decision making under stress, 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, line of duty death, officer safety, paramedic, patient care, police officer safety, public safety, rescue, responder safety, risk management, safety, situational awareness, Situational awareness matters, tactical decision making, technical rescue
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Using the simulation environment to improve situational awareness
Many first responder training programs use simulation in the development of decision making competencies. Simulation exercises help develop skills in setting strategy and tactics, in applying policies and procedures and in developing critical thinking skills. But how can simulations be … Continue reading
Posted in Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Human Behavior, human factors, Information overload, Mental Models, Neuroscience, Safety, Simulation, Situational awareness, Stress, Technology, Training, Workload Management
Tagged decision making, decision making under stress, fire service leadership, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, high reliability organizations, leadership, mental models, mindfulness, problem solving, resiliency, resilient problem solving, safety, sense making, Simulation, situational awareness, Situational awareness matters, staffing, teamwork, training
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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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Aggressiveness and Situational Awareness
I was recently contacted by email from a Situational Awareness Matters member asking if aggressiveness and safety can co-exist at an emergency scene. My answer was “of course they can.” The two actions, being safe and being aggressive are not … Continue reading
Posted in building construction, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Emotions, Human Behavior, Safety, Situational awareness, size-up, Staffing, Stress, Teamwork, Training
Tagged aggressive tactics, decision making, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, incident command, situational awareness, size up
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5 tips for improving situational awareness through training
The overall number of structure fires are down nationwide. For the sake of the citizens we protect, this is a good thing. But for the sake of firefighters who need to gain valuable experience through the proverbial baptism by fire, … Continue reading
Posted in Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Emotions, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, human factors, Mental Models, Repetition, Safety, Simulation, Situational awareness, Stress, Training
Tagged decision making, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, hindsight bias, incident command, judging, judgment, leadership, mental models, pattern matching, realistic training, repetitive training, situational awareness
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Complex Communications
We have many traits that make us uniquely human. Among them is our ability to engage in complex communications. We can look at black ink squiggled on a piece of bleached paper and derive meaning from those symbols. We call … Continue reading
Posted in Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Communications, Decision Making, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, human factors, Information overload, Mayday and RIT, Safety, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress
Tagged accountability, communications, complexity, decision making, dispatchers, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, incident command, judgment, leadership, LUNAR, mayday, miscommunications, radio communications, situational awareness
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