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Episode 21: Situational awareness lessons shared by a first responder struck by a car

Leave a Comment / Close Call, Competency, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Personal Protective Equipment, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Stress, Training, Tunneled Senses /

On this episode I interview Sean Balantic. After serving 6 years active duty as a United States Marine, Sean served as a federal firefighter prior to being employed by the Rochester, New York Fire Department where he has served for almost 7 years. Sean is assigned as a firefighter on Truck 3. In this interview, […]

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Episode 20: Mayday for Mental Health

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Leadership, Mayday and RIT, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress /

This episode chronicles a father’s story of inspiration from tragedy. Listen in as I interview Fire Chief Patrick Kenny from the Village of Western Springs, Illinois Fire Department. Chief Kenny talks candidly about losing his son, Sean, to suicide – and the importance of mental health for first responders. Length: 33 minutes click the YouTube

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Episode 19: Situational awareness lessons from a first responder shot in the face

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Close Call, Competency, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Intuition, Neuroscience, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training /

This close call survival story is an amazing interview with Okaloosa County Sheriff Investigator Steven Hough. This episode retells the story of a first responder shot in the face by an assailant during a standoff. He will share with you what happened as the suspect, armed with an assault rifle, charged the vehicle Investigator Hough and

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Episode 18: Situational Awareness Lessons Learned in Two Minutes

1 Comment / Accountability, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Close Call, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Intuition, Mayday and RIT, Neuroscience, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Tacit Knowledge, Teamwork, Training, Tunneled Senses, Workload Management /

This close call survival story is an interview with Aurora Fire Lieutenant Sean Dolan sharing amazing lessons from the house fire where he was caught in a flashover and sustained second and third-degree burns. Sean is very candid in sharing the details of what happened and how close he came to death. Length: 63 minutes

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Episode 17: Situational awareness lessons learned from a double line-of-duty death

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Close Call, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Line of Duty Death, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Staffing, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Workload Management /

“Lessons learned from the Athletic Club Hotel Fire.” This episode is an interview with Indianapolis Health & Safety Chief, Doug Abernathy. In 1992, Doug had been on the Indianapolis Fire Department for four years and was serving as a firefighter on Engine 13. He shares a powerful story about brotherhood, love of the job and

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Episode 16: The impact of fatigue on situational awareness

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attention Management, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Fatigue, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Information overload, Multitasking, Physical Fitness, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Workload Management /

Episode 16: The impact of fatigue on situational awareness Back in episode 7 I answered a listener question about the impact of fatigue on situational awareness. I promised in that episode that I would dedicate more time to this topic in an upcoming episode. So I want to explore the issue of fatigue some more.

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Episode 14: The need for realistic training

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Building Construction, Competency, Culture, Decision Making, Equipment, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Leadership, Mental Models, Personal Protective Equipment, Repetition, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Simulation, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Tacit Knowledge, Teamwork, Training /

Episode 14: Interview with Dave Casey, Director of Louisiana State Fire & Emergency Training Institute on the need for realistic training. Length: 57 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

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Episode 13 – Training for Failure

Leave a Comment / Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Neuroscience, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Training /

  In the feature segment, we’ll talk about training for failure, how it happens and I’ll offer some advice on how to overcome it. I’ll also include some discussion questions you can have among your members about training and whether there may be opportunities for improvement. And we’ll share a near-miss report where a crew

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Radio Communications is Essential to Situational Awareness

Communications, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Training /

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

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