Oftentimes during situational awareness programs, participants will share stories of incidents they have responded to, or incidents they have read about, or videos of incidents they have watched where the incident ended in a significant near-miss or a casualty. This happened recently during a program where a firefighter with 20+ years of experience showed […]
The Rational Brain and Situational Awareness Read More »
Shared situational awareness simply means two or more people have a commonly understood mental model – a mental image of what’s happening… [tweet this] and what is going to happen in the future. When responders arrive at the scene of an emergency at different times (which is common), there is a risk that each person
Shared Situational Awareness Read More »
This episode is part three of a nine-part serious on dangerous mindsets that first responders can develop and I offer some advice for dealing with each. This week we talk about the Specialist, (a.k.a. The Know-it-all). Length: 33 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your
Episode 152 | Dangerous Mindsets – The Specialist Read More »
This is going to be, admittedly, an uncomfortable read for some. But, nonetheless it is a conversation we need to have. I need to discuss the “F” word. No, not THAT “F” word. The “F” word that is more dreaded than the F-bomb – Fear. Many first responders enjoy discussing fear as much as they
Explanations for Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 5 Read More »
This article continues the series focusing on the seemingly-insane things that some first responders do while operating in high-stress, high-consequence environments. Oftentimes, the individuals trying to make sense of these behaviors are quick to judge those on the sharp of the decision by saying things like: “They weren’t paying attention?” or “How could they
Explanations for Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 4 Read More »
This series is focused on the seemingly insane things that first responders do while operating in high-stress, high-consequence environments. Oftentimes, those trying to make sense of these behaviors are quick to judge the participants, saying things like: “How could they be so stupid?” or “What were they thinking?” or perhaps the worst one of all
Explanations for Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 3 Read More »
Albert Einstein is credited with saying: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” If you have spent time reading firefighter fatality reports, you might start to see the real-life manifestation of Einstein’s definition of insanity. In fact, I would go as far as to say we’ve got to
Explanations for Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 1 Read More »
As I talk with first responders in classes about the impact of distractions and interruptions on situational awareness, I find myself often being asked: “What’s the difference?” While there are distinctly different causes for distractions and interruptions, the outcome is often very similar…a reduction in situational awareness and the potential for a catastrophic outcome. [tweet
Distractions and Interruptions…What’s the Difference? Read More »
Congratulations on completing all the requirements needed to graduate from the Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy! Please complete this form to request your graduate certificate (which will be sent as a .pdf document to your email). Please allow 1-2 weeks for the delivery of your certificate. Fill in your name as you would like it
Academy Graduate Certificate Request Read More »
In this episode, we examine the role that short-term and long-term memory plays in helping first responders develop and maintain situational awareness. Length: 29 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
Episode 143 | Memory and situational awareness Read More »
