These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to stress.
In this episode, we explore how the brain confabulates – or makes up its own reality. In the absence of facts, the brain can start to invent or create its own reality. This can be dangerous on emergency scenes. Length: 22 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are […]
Episode 141 | Confabulation 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 importance of setting operational strategy based on available resources and the impact of understaffing on situational awareness. Length: 25 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 134 | Assessing resources Read More »
In this episode, we discuss the role of the devil’s advocate on emergency scenes and how the advocate can help when there is a flawed perception of reality. Length: 27 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making
Episode 133 | The Devil’s Advocate Read More »
Welcome to the second article in the four-part We Must Stop The Insanity situational awareness series. In Part 1, posted October 27, I talked about flawed size-ups. In this segment, I’m going to discuss why firefighters fail to be defensive when the fire conditions indicate offensive operations are inappropriate.
We Must Stop The Insanity: Part 2 Read More »
In this episode, we discuss five best practices for managing mental workload under stressful working conditions. Length: 26 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 Awareness Matters Online
Episode 131 | Best practices for managing mental workload Read More »
During an open conference call recently, I had the opportunity to discuss situational awareness challenges and opportunities (which, by the way… was really enjoyable) I had a chief officer from Wisconsin (thanks Lance) ask a question about company officer priorities on sizing up a residential dwelling fire. It’s a question I get asked often and have built
Four Size-up Priorities to Improve Situational Awareness Read More »
In this episode we explore three types of stress that can impact first responders. Length: 33 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 Awareness Matters Online Academy. CLICK HERE for
Episode 121 | Three types of stress Read More »
Research has demonstrated that, without question, stress can have significant impacts on situational awareness (SA). Stress can narrow your attention, cause task fixation, contribute to heightened awareness of non-critical information (at the detriment of more critical information) and so much more. As stress erodes situational awareness, it can also impact decision making. The research I
Staffing Levels Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
When it comes to first responder radio traffic I am reminded of the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You may recall that in the story Goldilocks samples three bowls of porridge. One is too hot. One is too cold. And the third is just right. This lesson applies directly to first responder situational
Radio Traffic Can Improve or Destroy Situational Awareness Read More »
