Category Archives: Incompetence
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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Administrative chiefs and emergency responses
I recently received an email from a firefighter asking for my opinion as to whether or not the administrative chief officers in his department should respond to reported structure fires. My initial response was: “Well, Duh! Yes!” But then I … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Ego and Self-Esteem, firefighter situational awareness, Incompetence, Safety, Situational awareness, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Workload Management
Tagged fire chief, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, fireground safety, ICS, incident command, incident management, situational awareness, strategy and tactics
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How could they be so stupid?
Recently I was having a conversation with a fire commander who shared the following experience. He stopped by one of the stations for a visit and came upon a group of firefighters huddled around a computer screen watching videos. Relax. … Continue reading
Posted in Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego and Self-Esteem, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, Incompetence, Leadership, Safety, Situational awareness, Training
Tagged decision making, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, incident command, judgment, leadership, 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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Nine Dangerous Mindsets: Part 8 – The Slacker
Welcome to part eight of the Nine Dangerous Mindsets series. In this installment I’m going to take on one of the most challenging and perhaps one of the most frustrating mindsets – the Slacker. This mindset is dangerous to situational … Continue reading
Posted in Complacency, Culture, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, Incompetence, Safety, Situational awareness, Training
Tagged complacent, decision making, decision making under stress, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, gasaway consulting group, human error, human factors, lazy, slacker
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Thank you Stowe Fire Department
In 2011 I had the opportunity to deliver a Mental Management of Emergencies class for the Stowe Fire Department. The program focused on how to improve first responder situational awareness and decision making processes under stress. I have been afforded … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Ego and Self-Esteem, firefighter situational awareness, Human Behavior, human factors, Incompetence, Neuroscience, Safety, Situational awareness
Tagged arrogance, catastrophe, complacency, decision making, decision making under stress, fire chief Mark Sgantas, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, incompetence, mental management of emergencies, stowe fire department, stowe vermont
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A must-see safety video
As a great follow-up to the Recipe from Hell’s Kitchen series, I want to recommend you watch this video created by the Chicago Fire Department that depicts the powerful life stories of firefighters who have been injured or killed.
Posted in Accountability, Communications, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Fear, firefighter situational awareness, Incompetence, Leadership, Physical Fitness, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, size-up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Workload Management
Tagged decision making, firefighter safety, firefighter situational awareness, incident command, leadership, situational awareness
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A Recipe From Hell’s Kitchen – Part 5
This is the final segment of the Recipe From Hell’s Kitchen series. In this article I want to share my personal perspectives on the catastrophic outcomes that result when the ingredients of the recipe come together. You may recall in the first … Continue reading
