In this article, we discuss three types of stress: Acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress. First responders can, and often do, experience all three. Stress can impact firefighter situational awareness and, equally concerning, stress can have devastating long-term impacts. As I was writing this article I recalled various times during my thirty years […]
Three types of stress Read More »
The foundation for developing situational awareness is perception – using your senses to gather information about what is happening around you. In lay terms, we call it paying attention. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to develop strong situational awareness if you are not paying attention to what is happening around you. For better
Weapons of Mass Distraction Read More »
Understaffing can have a big impact on first responder safety. We all know that. But it can also have a huge impact on first responder situational awareness… more than I ever imagined. I have experienced understaffing issues many times throughout my career but I never gave much thought to how my situational awareness was being
Understaffing Impacts Situational Awareness Read More »
I get asked often about the role of fatigue in situational awareness. Sometimes the question is based on general curiosity. Sometimes the inquiry is a result of someone seeking support for (or against) an extended work schedule. I sure don’t want to get caught in the middle of that debate but the question is a
Tired Brains (fatigue) and Situational Awareness Read More »
Many first responder training programs use simulation in the development of decision-making competencies. Simulation exercises help develop skills in setting strategy and tactics, in applying policies and procedures and in developing critical thinking skills. How can simulations be used in the development of situational awareness skills? The answer lies, in part, in understanding what situational
Using the Simulation Environment to Improve Situational Awareness Read More »
August 29, 2019 Gasaway Safety Solutions has been contracted to present the keynote session at the 2019 Colorado Traffic Incident Management Conference in Loveland, Colorado. “The number of first responders and ancillary support personnel are being struck on highway incidents is extremely alarming. It seems as though the motoring public is either unaware or uncaring
I am a big advocate of departments having standardized procedures to guide operations as tools to help develop and maintain situational awareness. I don’t really care if you call them Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs). The important thing is you have a set of commonly understood Standards that guide performance. Standards
Standards Can Harm Decision Making Under Stress Read More »
There’s no doubt that in dynamically changing, high-risk, high-consequence environments someone could be called upon to perform many varied tasks, some at the same time. When staffing levels are low, the likelihood of this situation increases significantly. The problem this creates is the brain does not perform well when task saturated, especially in stressful situations.
Task Saturation Impacts Situational Awareness Read More »
The topic of situational awareness is growing in popularity in the fire service and this is a good thing. For decades the casualty reports have revealed that flawed situational awareness leads to poor decision making and has contributed to tragic fireground outcomes. I am honored to see many of the teachings being shared here on
Situational Awareness is a Complex Topic Read More »
Keynotes & Training Programs Powerful, results-oriented, high-impact, experience-based safety and leadership programs using interactive, adult learning techniques. For 25 years Dr. Richard Gasaway has been delivering content rich programs for first responders, business leaders and industral workers ranging in size from 10 to 5,000 throughout the United States, Canada, England, Hong Kong and Australia. Situational
Live Programs List – Industry Read More »
