Explicit Knowledge Archives - Situational Awareness Matters!™

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 …

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

Simulations Improve Situational Awareness – SAM 371

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attention Management, Automatic Action, Benchmarks, Cognitive Memory, Communications, Competency, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Intuition, Judgment, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Pattern Matching, Pre Arrival Lens, Prediction, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Simulation, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Technology, Training, Workload Management, Worksheets / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, we discuss how simulations can improve situational awareness. Your highest level of situational awareness is formed when you are able to make accurate predictions about future events. In neuroscience, this is called projection and it simply means you are able to predict, or project, the future events. This is accomplished through mental …

Simulations Improve Situational Awareness – SAM 371 Read More »

How Expectations Influence Situational Awareness – SAM 370

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Cognitive Memory, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Intuition, Judgment, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Progress Reports, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Tacit Knowledge / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, we discuss how the role expectations play in helping developing situational awareness and influencing decision making. Your highest level of situational awareness is formed when you are able to make accurate predictions about future events. In neuroscience, this is called projection and it simply means you are able to predict, or …

How Expectations Influence Situational Awareness – SAM 370 Read More »

Five Situational Awareness Lessons from a LODD Incident – SAM 354

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attitude, Auditory exclusion, Automatic Action, Benchmarks, Building Construction, Close Call, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Denial, Disoriented, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Equipment, Error Creep, Excited, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Goals, Gut Feeling, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Independent Goal Setting - Freelancing, Information overload, Judgment, Leadership, Line of Duty Death, Lost Focus, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mental Models, Meta Awareness, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, Neuroscience, PAR, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Prediction, Preoccupation, Progress Reports, Radios, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Tacit Knowledge, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Vigilance, Workload Management / By Rich Gasaway

On June 2, 2011, the San Francisco Fire Department suffered the tragic loss of 2 firefighters at 133 Berkeley Way. The episode shares some valuable situational awareness lessons from this tragic incident. The San Francisco Fire Department conducted an internal review of the incident and issued a 156-page report on their findings. Many of the …

Five Situational Awareness Lessons from a LODD Incident – SAM 354 Read More »

Creatures of Habit – SAM 353

Leave a Comment / Automatic Action, Cognitive Memory, Competency, Complacency, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Incompetence, Judgment, Long-Term Memory, Mental Models, Muscle Memory, Neuroscience, Pattern Matching, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Prediction, Repetition, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Tacit Knowledge, Training / By Rich Gasaway

Perhaps you’ve heard it said that we are creatures of habit. The more we do something over and over again, the more likely that behavior will be turned into a habit. This episodes explores how we create habits. Good or bad, we all have habits. On an emergency scene good habits can save …

Creatures of Habit – SAM 353 Read More »

The Origins of Intuition – SAM 352

Leave a Comment / Automatic Action, Cognitive Memory, Decision Making, Emotions, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Intuition, Judgment, Long-Term Memory, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Muscle Memory, Neuroscience, Pattern Matching, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Prediction, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Tacit Knowledge / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode we explore the neuroscience behind causes your “gut feeling” – Intuition – and why you might want to pay attention to it. It is amazing how many articles and videos I have watched lately in which they are talking about decision making based on “gut feel.” It is also disheartening how many …

The Origins of Intuition – SAM 352 Read More »

The Overconfident Incompetent – SAM 351

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attitude, Automatic Action, Biases, Bravado, Cognitive Memory, Competency, Decision Making, Ego, Emotions, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Incompetence, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Optimism, Over Confident, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Prediction, Risk, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Tacit Knowledge / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode discusses the process for competency development and introduces the Dunning-Kruger Effect, a cognitive bias whereby unskilled people suffer from the illusion of having superior skills and knowledge. Description This discussion includes the four steps in the progression of competency: Step 1: Unconscious incompetence – being unaware of what you do …

The Overconfident Incompetent – SAM 351 Read More »

The John Vanatta Story. Part 2 – SAM 350

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attention Management, Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Ego, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Goals, Incompetence, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Lost Focus, Meta Awareness, Mindfulness, Mission, Mission Myopia, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Prediction, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Training, Vigilance / By Rich Gasaway

This episode is Part 2 of a 2-part interview with Deputy Chief John Vanatta discussing a training exercise that went wrong and resulted in two firefighter injuries after falling 10 feet on to concrete. Deputy Chief John Vanatta discussing a training exercise that went wrong and resulted in two firefighter injuries. Part 2 The Denver …

The John Vanatta Story. Part 2 – SAM 350 Read More »

The John Vanatta Story. Part 1 – SAM 349

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attention Management, Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Ego, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Goals, Incompetence, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Lost Focus, Meta Awareness, Mission, Mission Myopia, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Prediction, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Training, Vigilance / By Rich Gasaway

This episode is Part 1 of a 2-part interview with Deputy Chief John Vanatta discussing a training exercise that went wrong and resulted in two firefighter injuries after falling 10 feet on to concrete. The Denver Drill that John discusses had been performed all week using two ladders and two firefighters at the sill. But …

The John Vanatta Story. Part 1 – SAM 349 Read More »

Confabulated Realities Impact Situational Awareness – SAM 342

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Automatic Action, Biases, Confabulation, Confusion, Decision Making, Denial, Disoriented, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Hallucinations, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Judgment, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Over Confident, Over Staffing, Pattern Matching, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Situational awareness / By Rich Gasaway

This episode explores how your brain can make up, or confabulate, its own reality. A confabulated reality is one that we believe to be real but, in actuality, it is made up in our brain. The problem with this is we rarely are able to distinguish between a confabulated reality and true reality until something …

Confabulated Realities Impact Situational Awareness – SAM 342 Read More »