Meta Awareness Archives - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Complacency: A Lesson Worth Sharing – The Eric Wappel Story – 390

Leave a Comment / Assertiveness, Assumptions, Attention Management, Attitude, Biases, Bravado, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Denial, Ego, Emotions, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Gut Feeling, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Intuition, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Meta Awareness, Mindfulness, Mission, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Personnel location, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Stress, Tacit Knowledge, Teamwork, Training / By Rich Gasaway

Captain Eric Wappel shares a tale of complacency and how he faced it head-on with his department. On January 3, 2022, the North Judson – Wayne Township Fire Department was dispatched for the second time to the same residence for a “furnace smoking.” Captain Eric Wappel wasn’t available for the first response, but responded to …

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The Violence Project: How to stop a mass shooting epidemic. An interview with Dr. James Densley – 389

This episode is an interview is with Dr. James Densley, discussing his book: The Violence Project: How to stop a mass shooting epidemic. Dr. James Densley is Professor and Department Chair of Criminal Justice at Metro State University, part of the Minnesota State system. He is also co-founder of The Violence Project Research Center, best …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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Heavy Content Fires – The Ryan Pennington Interview (Episode 300)

Leave a Comment / Culture, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Human Behavior, Judgment, Meta Awareness, Mindfulness, Perception Of Reality, Pre Arrival Lens, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Vigilance / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, I interview the foremost fire service expert on fighting “heavy content” fires (aka, hoarded environments). The interview is packed with great ideas for first responders, and some tips for family members who are dealing with a family member afflicted with a hoarding disorder. Length: 57 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch …

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What You Don’t See Can Save You

1 Comment / Article, Assumptions, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Decision Making, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Intuition, Meta Awareness, Neuroscience, Prediction, Safety, Size Up, Tacit Knowledge / By Rich Gasaway

I dedicate a lot of time during my situational awareness programs ensuring that first responders understand how clues and cues serve as the foundation for developing and maintaining good situational awareness. We also spend considerable time making the connection of how strong situational awareness becomes the foundation for good decision making. For the most part, …

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The Impact of Stress on Memory and Recall – Part 2 (Episode 295)

Leave a Comment / Cognitive Memory, Confabulation, Confusion, Decision Making, Denial, Disoriented, Emotions, Expectations, Frustration, Human Factors, Long-Term Memory, Lost Focus, Meta Awareness, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Overload, Overwhelm, Pressure, Progress Reports, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Short Term Memory, Stress, Teamwork, Tunneled Senses, Workload Management / By Rich Gasaway

This episode is part 2 of a 2-part presentation where we talk about how stress can impact memory and recall. Length: 34 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 …

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The Impact of Stress on Memory and Recall – Part 1 (Episode 294)

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part presentation where we talk about how stress can impact memory and recall. Length: 30 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 …

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Mission Myopia: A situational awareness barrier

2 Comments / Article, Attention Management, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Ego, Human Factors, Meta Awareness, Multitasking, Risk Assessment, Safety, Size Up, Task Saturation, Tunneled Senses / By Rich Gasaway

The primary mission in all emergency situations is to save lives and property. In some agencies when a new member is inducted into the organization they take an oath of office that includes pledging their commitment to this mission. The mission is an important – even noble – calling. But what happens when a responder …

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