Mission Myopia 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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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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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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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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Complacency – SAM 369

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attitude, Bravado, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Ego, Error Creep, Expectations, Experience, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Goals, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Mind Drift, Mindfulness, Mission, Mission Myopia, Neuroscience, Over Confident, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Task Fixation, Vigilance, Workload Management / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, we preview the complacency chapter from the book, How Smart Workers Use Situational Awareness to Improve Safety. Complacency is a dangerous affliction and a very challenging barrier to situational awareness for workers in high-risk environments. When a worker becomes complacent they let their guard down. What does that mean? It’s a cliché …

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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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My life changed forever in a split second. The John Moore Story Part 1 – SAM 363

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Complacency, 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 shares 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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Contact with a 33kV Electric Line. The Sioux Falls Fire Department Story – SAM 357

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Close Call, Communications, Complacency, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Equipment, Error Creep, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Judgment, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, Multitasking, Near Miss, Neuroscience, Over Confident, Personnel location, Prediction, Preoccupation, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Training, Vigilance / By Rich Gasaway

This episode interviews four members of the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Fire Department who experienced a near-miss event when the platform on Truck 7 came into contact with a 33 kV transmission line during a routine truck check at the station. First responders spend a lot of time together, on calls, in the station, …

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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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