These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to culture.
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. [tweet this] You may recall in the first segment I shared with you that I see this recipe being used over and […]
A Recipe From Hell’s Kitchen – Part 5 Read More »
In this episode, I interview my son, Cameron Gasaway, a firefighter with the Madison, Wisconsin Fire Department, about why it is so hard to speak up when you see something that’s going wrong. Length: 39 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of
Episode 140 | Speaking up Read More »
In this episode, we discuss the challenges of teaching responders how to speak up when they think something is going wrong. As we will see, it goes way beyond telling them to speak up if they see something. Length: 39 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are
Episode 127 | Teaching responders how to speak up Read More »
In this episode we look at the top 12 reasons why first responders are so hesitant to discuss their near-miss events and the lessons they learned from them that could save the lives of other responders. Length: 34 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking
I read with great interest (and concern) an article recently published about how the San Francisco Fire Department is being fined $21,000 by state investigators for violations to safety laws that led to the deaths of two firefighters on June 2. My concern for this action is not an attempt, in any way, to diminish
Penalties and Discipline Will Not Improve Safety Read More »
In this episode I sat down for an interview with Instructor John Dixon to discuss his passion topic – the normalization of deviance. Length: 63 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
Episode 120 | Interview with Instructor John Dixon Read More »
You’re a firefighter assigned to a roof job. It’s a flat metal roof and there’s a lot of water on it. (Set aside for a moment all your judgement about why you’re on the roof in the first place). Your situational awareness is strong and you’re getting a gut feeling that’s causing you concern for
The Five Step Assertive Statement Process Read More »
In this episode we explore the importance of developing and maintain situational awareness while operating on the scenes of vehicle fires. Length: 34 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
Episode 115 | Vehicle Fire Situational Awareness Read More »
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 both good and bad ways. [tweet this] But where do habits and routines come from?
The Comfortable Routine of Complacency Read More »
A frequent contributing factor in firefighter casualty incidents is too much radio traffic. This can have a significant impact on first responder situational awareness because it becomes near impossible to take in, process, comprehend and remember the volumes of information being transmitted over the radio when communication is not disciplined. This article explores some of
