Search
Close this search box.

Anger

These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to anger.

A Mental Health Mayday. The Laverne Friesen Story – Part 1 (Episode 301)

Today’s episode is Part 1 of my 2-part interview with Laverne Friesen, a first responder who is confronting the stigma of mental illness head-on as he shares his first-hand account of how work-related stress was leading him down a dark path toward suicide.  He shares intimate details of what that experience was like, how it […]

A Mental Health Mayday. The Laverne Friesen Story – Part 1 (Episode 301) Read More »

Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 3 (Episode 251)

This episode is part 3 of a 3-part interview with the incident commander from the German Township Fire Department who was in charge of a residential dwelling fire where a backdraft occurred followed by a Mayday call. Length: 62 minutes         Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO    

Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 3 (Episode 251) Read More »

Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 2 (Episode 250)

This episode is part 2 of a 3-part interview with the incident commander from the German Township Fire Department who was in charge of a residential dwelling fire where a backdraft occurred followed by a Mayday call. Length: 40 minutes     Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If

Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 2 (Episode 250) Read More »

Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 1 (Episode 249)

This episode is part 1 of a 3-part interview with the incident commander from the German Township Fire Department who was in charge of a residential dwelling fire where a backdraft occurred followed by a Mayday call. Length: 67 minutes     Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If

Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 1 (Episode 249) Read More »

Top Ten Near-Miss Interviews (SAM 248)

In this episode, I recap the events surrounding our most downloaded near-miss interviews in the history of the show. Length: 33 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

Top Ten Near-Miss Interviews (SAM 248) Read More »

Episode 239 | How Could They Be SO Stupid?

  This episode discusses how easy it is for first responders to adopt a judgmental mindset and miss important lessons that can improve situational awareness. Length: 17 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk

Episode 239 | How Could They Be SO Stupid? Read More »

SAM 229 | Jonathan Hancock Interview

Firefighter Jonathan Hancock found himself alone, unexpectedly, in the middle of a residential dwelling fire.  This is his story about how it happened and his lessons learned.   Length: 46 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

SAM 229 | Jonathan Hancock Interview Read More »

Episode 210 | Observations and lessons from FDIC

This episode shares observations and lessons learned from the 2018 International Fire Department Instructors Conference.  Length: 64 minutes         click the YouTube icon to listen       __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher level, check out the Situational Awareness

Episode 210 | Observations and lessons from FDIC Read More »

Situational Awareness Matters!

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. This is not a lecture on watching inappropriate videos on fire department computers. In fact,

How Could They Be So Stupid? Read More »

Flawed Expectations of Personnel Can Impact Situational Awareness

You develop situational awareness by using your senses to capture information (Level 1 situational awareness). Those clues and cues are then processed into understanding (Level 2 situational awareness). Once you understand what is happening, you can then make predictions of future events (Level 3 situational awareness). This article focuses on the third level of situational

Flawed Expectations of Personnel Can Impact Situational Awareness Read More »