I am blessed. My work allows me to uncover many lessons from human behavior and cognitive neuroscience research that benefit the situational awareness of first responders. My 30+ years in fire and EMS positions me well to understand how those lessons can improve our safety. It has truly become my passion and my calling. [This […]
A Recipe From Hell’s Kitchen – Part 1 Read More »
The Mental Management of Emergencies: Improving first responder situational awareness and decision making under stress. Format: Interactive Seminar Length: 2 days Since the inception of the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System in 2005, the leading contributing factors to near-miss events are NOT strategy, tactics, equipment, procedures or training. The leading contributing factors are flawed situational
Mental Management of Emergencies – Live Training Read More »
In this episode, we discuss the importance of meta-awareness as a technique to help improve first responder safety. Length: 32 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
Episode 135 | Meta-awareness 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 »
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 »
Situational awareness starts with capturing clues and cues in your environment (perception) and then understanding what those clues and cues mean (comprehension). At a structure fire the process of capturing information should involve a complete 360-degree size-up of the scene. Many departments have policies that stipulate the completion of a 360-degree size up. Yet, for
Completing the 360-Degree Size-Up Read More »
This website is dedicated to improving situational awareness of first responders. The precursor to situational awareness is situational readiness. I define situational readiness as: Having the ability to anticipate what things need to be in place to be well-prepared for an emergency response; and then, taking the steps necessary to ensure those things are done
Ten Things to Develop Situational Readiness Read More »
I was invited to be an observer at a regional police tactical training exercise. The program was a multi-day event, starting with some classroom training and culminating in a series of simulations using mock weapons, flash-bangs and actors. The one thing that readily stood out to me was the tactical teams were not using radios
Radio Communications is Essential to Situational Awareness 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 »
