I had an opportunity today to present along side Asheville Fire Chief Scott Burnette at the North Carolina Society of Fire Rescue Instructors Conference. This opportunity came as a result of another wonderful opportunity that Chief Burnette extended to me to conduct facilitated debriefings following the line-of-duty death of Captain Jeff Bowen. During the debriefing […]
Healing and growing from tragedy Read More »
There are probably few things I say in a classroom that raises the ire of instructors more than “You’re training your members to fail.” I understand why they wouldn’t want to hear that. No instructor wants a member to fail. Even more so, no instructor wants to be implicated for being the one responsible for
There’s a new breed of worker lining up to be your next member: Are you ready? Like it or not, here they come… The Generation Y first responder! Are you ready? There are 80 million of them and they’re going to be your next crop of new firefighters and EMS providers. They’re a force to be
Newly released program: Are you ready? Read More »
I recently received an inquiry from an SAMatters member asking my thoughts on front loading command personnel in the event of a Mayday. Specifically, the reader wanted to know if I thought it was a good idea. I could answer the question in one word: Yes. However, I like to help my readers build deep
Staffing for the Mayday/Rapid Intervention Read More »
Accountability: A critically important component to emergency scene safety when personnel operate in a hazardous environment. From the perspective of situational awareness, accountability plays several roles. The obvious role is personnel accountability facilitates the rapid deployment of rescue teams if something goes awry. Command knows the crew sizes and where they are operating at and
Tracking of personnel Read More »
On June 2, 2011, the San Francisco Fire Department suffered the tragic loss of 2 firefighters at 133 Berkeley Way. The department conducted an internal review of the incident and issued a 156-page report on their findings. Many of the lessons relate to situational awareness and it is from that perspective that I would like
Five Situational Awareness Lessons from SFFD LODD Read More »
The med unit is responding to a report of a person down in a hotel room. While in route, dispatch notifies them that CPR is in progress. As they arrive a police officer meets them outside and tells them there now two victims and CPR is in progress on both. The officer further advises the
When The Puzzle Pieces Don’t Fit Read More »
I am blessed to present at dozens of state, national and international conferences and fire schools each year. These opportunities are essential to my mission of improving first responder situational awareness. I have just returned from the 2012 Utah Winter Fire School. This is the second consecutive year I was invited to present. I was
Utah Winter Fire School Read More »
Thank you to Battalion Chief Rick Davis from the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority for sharing this article he wrote for Situational Awareness Matters. I had an opportunity to deliver a situational awareness program in Loveland for the North Range fire departments. When it comes to understanding the importance of firefighter situational awareness, Loveland Fire Rescue
SA Matters to the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Read More »
If you have attended one of my new Mental Management of Emergencies programs you have learned how stress is a game-changer when it comes to firefighter situational awareness and decision making quality. Most basic training programs focus on developing cognitive knowledge and physical skills. Far less address the impact of stress on situational awareness and
You Can’t Handle The Truth! Read More »
