Close Call Archives - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Burned while searching for a fire victim. The Jeremy Saul Story – 392

Leave a Comment / Article, Assertiveness, Assumptions, Automatic Action, Building Construction, Close Call, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Disoriented, Expectations, Experience, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Judgment, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Pressure, Risk, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Stress, Tunnel Vision / By Rich Gasaway

Captain Jeremy Saul, a Situational Awareness Matters Certified Master Instructor shared a harrowing story about being burned while searching for a three-year old child trapped in a row home fire in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The interview includes a discussion about lessons learned and some of his favorite topics to teach during situational awareness classes. Episode …

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Trooper Down on the Roadway. The Bob Bemis Story – SAM 387

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Automatic Action, Close Call, Cognitive Memory, Complacency, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Expectations, Experience, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Judgment, Mindfulness, Near Miss, Pre Arrival Lens, Risk, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Short Term Memory, Situational awareness, Size Up, Task Fixation, Time Distortion, Training, Vigilance, Weather, Workload Management, Worksheets / By Rich Gasaway

This interview is with Bob Bemis, a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper who was struck and severely injured while attending to a vehicle fire on I-81 in eastern Pennsylvania. Sergeant (Ret.) Robert Bemis retired in 2017 as a Supervisor in the Operational Training Division at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey. With over 30 years …

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Hit on the roadway. The Magnum Bower Story – SAM 386

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Complacency, Decision Making, Disoriented, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Lost Focus, Miscommunications, Mission Myopia, Multitasking, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Prediction, Risk, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Training / By Rich Gasaway

This interview is with Magnum Bower, a heavy duty tow truck operator who survived being struck on a roadway incident, resulting in him becoming a quadriplegic. On May 9, 2019, heavy duty tow truck operator, Magnum Bower, was struck while working on a roadside assist. The driver who struck Magnum was traveling approximately 25 miles …

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First-in engine under gunfire: The Chris Paskett Interview: Part 2 – SAM 385

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Close Call, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Gut Feeling, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Mission, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork / By Rich Gasaway

This is part 2 of a 2-part interview with Eugene-Springfield Fire Battalion Chief Chris Paskett sharing details of a first-in engine crew at a working structure fire taking on gunfire. Eugene-Springfield crews were dispatched to a report of a residential fire with multiple callers confirming a residential dwelling fire. As the officer on the first-in …

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First-in engine under gunfire: The Chris Paskett Interview: Part 1 – SAM 384

1 Comment / Accountability, Close Call, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Gut Feeling, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork / By Rich Gasaway

This is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Eugene-Springfield Fire Battalion Chief Chris Paskett sharing details of a first-in engine crew at a working structure fire taking on gunfire. Eugene-Springfield crews were dispatched to a report of a residential fire with multiple callers confirming a residential dwelling fire. As the officer on the first-in …

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Twelve tips to improve situational awareness – SAM 383

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attitude, Auditory exclusion, Close Call, Cognitive Memory, Command Support, Communications, Decision Making, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Information overload, Interruptions, Line of Duty Death, Long-Term Memory, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, Multitasking, Overload, Progress Reports, Radios, Repetition, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Sensory Conflict, Short Term Memory, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Vigilance / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, a special guest (Santa) presents twelve tips to improve situational awareness while working in high-risk, high consequence environments. Merry Christmas everyone! I know everyone’s feeling particularly festive this time of year and ole Santa is feeling the situational awareness love. Surely, you’ve heard of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” – You know …

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What first responders need to know about explosives: The Jarred Alden Interview. Part 1 – SAM 381

1 Comment / Accountability, Assertiveness, Close Call, Communications, Decision Making, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Judgment, Mental Models, Mission, Near Miss, Perception, Prediction, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Teamwork, Training, understaffing / By Rich Gasaway

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part interview Akron (OH) Fire Lieutenant Jarred Alden shares what we need to know about homemade explosive devices, blast effect, treating blast injury victims, and more. Lieutenant Alden is a paramedic and operations officer for the Akron (OH) Fire Department. He has 17+ years of experience as a …

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Improving Responder Safety on the Roadway: The John Gonzalez Interview -SAM 380

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attention Management, Automation, Close Call, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Disoriented, Distractions and Interruptions, Equipment, Expectations, Human Behavior, Human Error, Mindfulness, Mission, Mission Myopia, Personnel location, Prediction, Preoccupation, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Teamwork, Technology, Tunnel Vision, Vigilance / By Rich Gasaway

This episode is an interview with John Gonzalez from Florian Re Appratus, a company focused on improving responder safety on roadway incidents. John Gonzalez is a past District Chief of Toms River Fire District 1 in Ocean County, NJ and has been an active volunteer firefighter for over 30 years. Chief Gonzalez served as a …

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When Training Goes Wrong: The Stan Mettinger Story – SAM 378

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attitude, Close Call, Competency, Decision Making, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Human Error, Incompetence, Judgment, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Preoccupation, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Stress, Tacit Knowledge, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Training, Tunnel Vision, Vigilance / By Rich Gasaway

This episode shares the story of a firefighter who was burned during a vehicle fire training scenario. Stan Mettinger was setting up a training scenario that involved setting vehicles on fire. He was using diesel fuel to ignite hay inside the vehicle when the vapors flashed and set Stan on fire resulting in first, second …

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My life changed forever in a split second. The John Moore Story Part 2 – SAM 364

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Decision Making, Emotions, Expectations, Fear, Habits, Human Error, Invincible, Judgment, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Mission Myopia, Near Miss, Over Confident, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Pre Arrival Lens, Prediction, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Task Fixation, Training, Tunnel Vision, Vigilance, Weather / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, Firefighter-Paramedic John Moore continues the story of how his life was changed forever after an off-duty accident resulted in a permanent paralyzing spinal cord injury. John Moore lives in Southwest Ohio with his wife of nearly 15 years and their two children (ages 7 and 9). He attended Sinclair Community College directly …

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