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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 23: Situational Awareness lessons learned when three feet from death – Part 2

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Auditory exclusion, Building Construction, Close Call, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Intuition, Personal Protective Equipment, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Tacit Knowledge, Teamwork, Training, Tunneled Senses /

On this episode I continue the interview with Captain John Lightly. John as served as a member of the Youngstown, Ohio Fire Department for 13 years. Youngstown FD has 8 stations and a sworn strength of 135 firefighters. John’s married and has twin daughters who are in 3rd grade. So you can imagine how exciting… […]

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Episode 22: Situational Awareness Lessons Learned when Three Feet From Death – Part 1

2 Comments / Accountability, Auditory exclusion, Building Construction, Close Call, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Intuition, Personal Protective Equipment, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Tacit Knowledge, Teamwork, Training, Tunneled Senses /

On this episode (Part 1 of 2) I interview with Captain John Lightly. John as served as a member of the Youngstown, Ohio Fire Department for 13 years. Youngstown FD has 8 stations and a sworn strength of 135 firefighters. John’s married and has twin daughters who are in 3rd grade. So you can imagine

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Episode 21: Situational awareness lessons shared by a first responder struck by a car

Leave a Comment / Close Call, Competency, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Personal Protective Equipment, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Stress, Training, Tunneled Senses /

On this episode I interview Sean Balantic. After serving 6 years active duty as a United States Marine, Sean served as a federal firefighter prior to being employed by the Rochester, New York Fire Department where he has served for almost 7 years. Sean is assigned as a firefighter on Truck 3. In this interview,

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Episode 20: Mayday for Mental Health

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Leadership, Mayday and RIT, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress /

This episode chronicles a father’s story of inspiration from tragedy. Listen in as I interview Fire Chief Patrick Kenny from the Village of Western Springs, Illinois Fire Department. Chief Kenny talks candidly about losing his son, Sean, to suicide – and the importance of mental health for first responders. Length: 33 minutes click the YouTube

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Episode 19: Situational awareness lessons from a first responder shot in the face

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Close Call, Competency, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Intuition, Neuroscience, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training /

This close call survival story is an amazing interview with Okaloosa County Sheriff Investigator Steven Hough. This episode retells the story of a first responder shot in the face by an assailant during a standoff. He will share with you what happened as the suspect, armed with an assault rifle, charged the vehicle Investigator Hough and

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Episode 18: Situational Awareness Lessons Learned in Two Minutes

1 Comment / Accountability, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Close Call, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Intuition, Mayday and RIT, Neuroscience, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Tacit Knowledge, Teamwork, Training, Tunneled Senses, Workload Management /

This close call survival story is an interview with Aurora Fire Lieutenant Sean Dolan sharing amazing lessons from the house fire where he was caught in a flashover and sustained second and third-degree burns. Sean is very candid in sharing the details of what happened and how close he came to death. Length: 63 minutes

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Episode 17: Situational awareness lessons learned from a double line-of-duty death

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Close Call, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Line of Duty Death, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Staffing, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Workload Management /

“Lessons learned from the Athletic Club Hotel Fire.” This episode is an interview with Indianapolis Health & Safety Chief, Doug Abernathy. In 1992, Doug had been on the Indianapolis Fire Department for four years and was serving as a firefighter on Engine 13. He shares a powerful story about brotherhood, love of the job and

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Special Episode 002 | Near Miss Expert Panel

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Personal Protective Equipment, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Tacit Knowledge, Teamwork /

Situational Awareness Matters Radio Show Special Episode 002 Topic: Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System Expert Panel Discussion (from Fire-Rescue International, Dallas Texas) The purpose of the SAMatters Radio show is to improve situational awareness and decision making for individuals and teams who work in high risk, high consequence environments. The SAMatters mission is simple… To help

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Episode 16: The impact of fatigue on situational awareness

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attention Management, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Fatigue, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Information overload, Multitasking, Physical Fitness, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Workload Management /

Episode 16: The impact of fatigue on situational awareness Back in episode 7 I answered a listener question about the impact of fatigue on situational awareness. I promised in that episode that I would dedicate more time to this topic in an upcoming episode. So I want to explore the issue of fatigue some more.

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Episode 15: Radio Communications Can Impact Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Communications, Human Factors, Safety, SAMatters Radio /

Episode 15: Radio Communications Can Impact Situational Awareness On this episode…. We’ll discuss how radio communications can impact situational awareness. I’ll share a near-miss incident where a firefighter fell through an open crawl space hatch in a floor due to lack of communications from a fellow firefighters. Finally, I will answer one of the most

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