Optimism Archives - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Firefighter Wellness: Leading a balanced life. Dr. Donnie Hutchinson Part 2 – SAM 366

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assumptions, Attitude, Bravado, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Emotions, Expectations, Fear, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Invincible, Leadership, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Optimism, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Physical Fitness, Prediction, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Stress, Tunnel Vision, Workload Management / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, we continue our discussion with Dr. Donnie, talking about the health and wellness qualities that make for successful first responders at work and at home. Description Dr. Donnie explores the health and wellness qualities that make for successful firefighters and other first responders at work and home. He teaches how …

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Firefighter Wellness: Leading a balanced life. Dr. Donnie Hutchinson Part 1 – SAM 365

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assumptions, Attitude, Bravado, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Emotions, Expectations, Fear, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Invincible, Leadership, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Optimism, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Physical Fitness, Prediction, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Stress, Tunnel Vision, Workload Management / By Rich Gasaway

In this episode, Dr. Donnie explores the health and wellness qualities that make for successful first responders at work and at home. Dr. Donnie explores the health and wellness qualities that make for successful firefighters and other first responders at work and home. He teaches how and why firefighters and first responders need to put …

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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 …

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Sharing multiple near-miss experiences including being held-up at gunpoint. The Jim Arie Story – Part 2 (Episode 332)

Anger, Assumptions, Attention Management, Attitude, Close Call, Competency, Confusion, Decision Making, Denial, Emotions, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Intuition, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Near Miss, Optimism, Perception, Prediction, Preoccupation, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Stress, Tacit Knowledge, Task Fixation, Time Distortion, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses / By Rich Gasaway

This episode is Part 2 of a 2-part interview where we learn about multiple near-miss events experienced by retired Fire Chief, Jim Arie throughout his 43-year career and he’ll discuss the situational awareness lessons from being held-up at gunpoint in March, 2020. Length: 40 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full video. …

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Sharing multiple near-miss experiences including being held-up at gunpoint. The Jim Arie Story – Part 1 (Episode 331)

This episode is Part 1 of a 2-part interview where we learn about multiple near-miss events experienced by retired Fire Chief, Jim Arie throughout his 43-year career and he’ll discuss the situational awareness lessons from being held-up at gunpoint in March, 2020. Length: 41 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full video. …

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The 360 Degree Size-up (Episode 329)

Accountability, Assumptions, Automatic Action, Automatic Action, Building Construction, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Expectations, Habits, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Multitasking, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Progress Reports, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Task Fixation / By Rich Gasaway

You might think that by now the importance of completing a 360-degree size-up would be second nature for firefighters. But it’s not. In fact, failing to complete a proper size-up remains one of the most often cited contributing factors in NIOSH Line-of-Duty death reports. There are lots of reasons why proper size-ups are not completed. …

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Surviving the Fire Service – The Todd LeDuc Interview (Episode 307)

1 Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attitude, Biases, Bravado, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Illness, Invincible, Line of Duty Death, Mindfulness, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Physical Fitness, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Stress, Vigilance, Weather, Workload Management, Worksheets / By Rich Gasaway

An interview with Retired Broward County Operations Chief Todd LeDuc, discussing first responder health, wellness and survival. Length: 63 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 out the …

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Commercial Building Mayday. The Atascocita Fire Story – Part 2 (Episode 304)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attention Management, Benchmarks, Building Construction, Checklists, Close Call, Cognitive Memory, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Complacency, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Gut Feeling, Habits, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Miscommunications, Mission, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Radios, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Time Distortion, Training / By Rich Gasaway

Today’s episode is Part 2 of my 2-part interview with three command officers from the Atascocita Fire Department in Houston, Texas, sharing a story of a commercial building fire that resulted in a mayday. Length: 63 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking …

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Commercial Building Mayday. The Atascocita Fire Story – Part 1 (Episode 303)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attention Management, Benchmarks, Building Construction, Checklists, Close Call, Cognitive Memory, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Complacency, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Gut Feeling, Habits, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Miscommunications, Mission, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Radios, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Time Distortion, Training / By Rich Gasaway

Today’s episode is Part 1 of my 2-part interview with three command officers from the Atascocita Fire Department in Houston, Texas, sharing a story of a commercial building fire that resulted in a mayday. Length: 67 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking …

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A Mental Health Mayday. The Laverne Friesen Story – Part 2 (Episode 302)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Attitude, Bravado, Close Call, Communications, Decision Making, Denial, Disoriented, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Frustration, Human Behavior, Illness, Invincible, Judgment, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Overwhelm, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Stress / By Rich Gasaway

Today’s episode is Part 2 of my 2-part interview with Laverne Friesen, a first responder who is confronting the stigma of mental illness head-on as he shares his first-hand account of how work-related stress was leading him down a dark path toward suicide. He shares intimate details of what that experience was like, how it …

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