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.

Gasaway Safety Solutions slated to present to ExxonMobil Global Emergency Response Team

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November 19, 2019 Gasaway Safety Solutions has been contracted to conduct a situational awareness training for ExxonMobil’s Global Emergency Response Team members in Houston, Texas. “We are really excited to be working again with ExxonMobil, this time to help their Global Emergency Response Team members improve their understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making. […]

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The Impact of Stress on Memory and Recall – Part 2 (Episode 295)

Leave a Comment / Cognitive Memory, Confabulation, Confusion, Decision Making, Denial, Disoriented, Emotions, Expectations, Frustration, Human Factors, Long-Term Memory, Lost Focus, Meta Awareness, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Overload, Overwhelm, Pressure, Progress Reports, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Short Term Memory, Stress, Teamwork, Tunneled Senses, Workload Management /

This episode is part 2 of a 2-part presentation where we talk about how stress can impact memory and recall. Length: 34 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check

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Weapons of Mass Distraction

1 Comment / Article, Attention Management, Distractions and Interruptions, Experience, Human Factors, Information overload, Interruptions, Overwhelm, Prediction, Repetition, Simulation, Situational awareness /

The foundation for developing situational awareness is perception – using your senses to gather information about what is happening around you. In lay terms, we call it paying attention. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to develop strong situational awareness if you are not paying attention to what is happening around you. For better

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The Impact of Stress on Memory and Recall – Part 1 (Episode 294)

Leave a Comment / Cognitive Memory, Confabulation, Confusion, Decision Making, Denial, Disoriented, Emotions, Expectations, Frustration, Human Factors, Long-Term Memory, Lost Focus, Meta Awareness, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Overload, Overwhelm, Pressure, Progress Reports, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Short Term Memory, Stress, Teamwork, Tunneled Senses, Workload Management /

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part presentation where we talk about how stress can impact memory and recall. Length: 30 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check

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Gasaway Safety Solutions slated to present the Novelis Corporation Management Team

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November 11, 2019 Gasaway Safety Solutions has been contracted to deliver a situational awareness training program for the operations and safety managers at the Novelis Corporation’s Oswego Plant. “Novelis is an amazing company with a strong safety culture. We are really excited to be working with their operations managers to help improve their understanding of

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Understaffing Impacts Situational Awareness

1 Comment / Article, Attention Management, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Safety, Situational awareness, Staffing, Stress, Tunneled Senses /

Understaffing can have a big impact on first responder safety. We all know that. But it can also have a huge impact on first responder situational awareness… more than I ever imagined. I have experienced understaffing issues many times throughout my career but I never gave much thought to how my situational awareness was being

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Trapped Under a Roof Collapse. The Mike Beutler Story – Part 2 (Episode 293)

1 Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attention Management, Attitude, Building Construction, Close Call, Command Presence, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Experience, Judgment, Mayday, Mission, Mission Myopia, Near Miss, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Radios, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Tunnel Vision /

This episode is part 2 of a 2-part interview with Fire Chief Mike Beutler as he shares the details of an incident where he was trapped under a roof collapse while working at a commercial building fire. Length: 35 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If you are

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The Overconfident Incompetent

4 Comments / Article, Competency, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Incompetence, Safety, Situational awareness, Training /

There are four levels of progression a person goes through in the development of competence. The pathway begins with a complete unawareness of how little a person knows and progresses to a complete unawareness of how much a person knows. There is a dangerous cognitive phenomenon that can occur along this continuum known as the

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Trapped Under a Roof Collapse. The Mike Beutler Story – Part 1 (Episode 292)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attention Management, Attitude, Building Construction, Close Call, Command Presence, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Experience, Judgment, Mayday, Mission, Mission Myopia, Near Miss, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Radios, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Tunnel Vision /

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Fire Chief Mike Beutler as he shares the details of an incident where he was trapped under a roof collapse while working at a commercial building fire. Length: 32 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If you are

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Tired Brains (fatigue) and Situational Awareness

4 Comments / Article, Attention Management, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Fatigue, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Neuroscience, Safety, Situational awareness, Stress /

I get asked often about the role of fatigue in situational awareness. Sometimes the question is based on general curiosity. Sometimes the inquiry is a result of someone seeking support for (or against) an extended work schedule. I sure don’t want to get caught in the middle of that debate but the question is a

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