Welcome to the third segment of the nine dangerous mindsets series. This article takes a look at the Specialist, also known as the ‘expert‘ and sometimes less affectionately referred to as the ‘know it all.’ Having smart people around is a good thing. In fact, one of the qualities of good leadership is the desire […]
Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 3: The Specialist Read More »
The mission of this website and my personal passion for situational awareness is to help first responders see the bad things coming in time to change the outcome. Consistent with that mission, I try to help responders understand how various aspects of the job – from training, to human factors, to command competence and everything in
Multiple Awarenesses Read More »
How significant (or stated another way… “How big a deal”) is flawed situational awareness as a contributing factor to firefighter near-miss events at structure fires? A. Not that big a deal B. Pretty big deal C. Really big deal (If you have attended one of my situational awareness programs you probably already know the answer
Flawed Situational Awareness at Structure Fires Read More »
The research I have conducted on the neuroscience of situational awareness and high-risk decision making has been fascinating and extremely enlightening to me. Over the past 12 years, it has been very rewarding to take the lessons of research and apply them for the benefit of first responders. For those who have attended one of
Five Best Practices for Managing the Mental Workload Read More »
There is little doubt the economic recession of 2008-2009 had a significant impact on the nation’s fire service. Hardly a day went by where there wasn’t some news about an organization that downsized, rightsized or capsized. There are all kinds of explanations and terms being attached to what happened. One I heard at the time
Firefighting: It’s a whole new ballgame Read More »
When it comes to developing and maintaining situational awareness, tunnel vision is a big deal. Effective situational awareness is developed from having a broad perception of the environment in which you are operating. As your focus narrows, you start to miss things. Those “missed things” are like lost puzzle pieces, leaving holes in your understanding
Explaining Tunnel Vision Read More »
The ability to develop and maintain situational awareness is a far more complex process than most people realize. I’ve had many responders say to me that as long as they are “paying attention” or “keeping their head on a swivel” or “looking up, down and all around”, they will have strong situational awareness. I truly
Expectations and situational awareness Read More »
Each member of an emergency response team is guided by a unique system of values, beliefs, assumptions and norms. Every member also brings their own unique habits and routines. What happens when you combine the values, beliefs, assumptions, norms, habits and routines of many unique individuals within an organization? You create culture. Organizational culture can
Culture And Situational Awareness Read More »
This episode explores the impact that tunnel vision can have on the development of situational awareness. Length: 31 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
Episode 178 | Explaining Tunnel Vision Read More »
There is an ongoing debate in the fire service. Unless you are unplugged from social media and online journals, you’re surely aware of it. On one end of the argument are those who believe the fire service is tactically too aggressive and purport this may be contributing to casualties. On the other side of the
Aggressive versus conservative Read More »
