fire chief Archives - Page 9 of 10 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Situational Awareness Thoughts and Observations About Covid-19 (Episode 313)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assumptions, Attitude, Biases, Bravado, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Confusion, Defiance, Denial, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Expectations, Fatigue, Fear, Frustration, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Information overload, Invincible, Leadership, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Multitasking, Over Confident, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Under Confident, understaffing, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, I share situational awareness thoughts and observations about the COVID-19 Pandemic and address 25 situational awareness barriers that are causing me concern. Length: 65 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ All of our live event topics are now available, virtually. CLICK HERE for details, enrollment […]

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A line of duty death perspective – The Jeff Dickey Story (Episode 312)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Building Construction, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Disoriented, Distractions and Interruptions, Gut Feeling, Human Error, Human Factors, Line of Duty Death, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mental Models, Mission, Mission Myopia, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Radios, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork / Rich Gasaway

Lieutenant Jeff Dickey has served the Washington, D.C. Fire Department for more than 30 years. Jeff was an acting officer during an incident where a DC firefighter was killed and Jeff was on the crew that recovered his body. Length: 59 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO

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Sleep and Situational Awareness

1 Comment / Article, Attention Management, Competency, Culture, Decision Making, Fatigue, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Neuroscience, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

The work schedule, along with the physical and mental demands placed on first responders and people working in high risk environments, can quickly cause brain fatigue. Most responders know that fatigue can have an impact on critical thinking and mental acuity. This, in turn, can have a significant impact on situational awareness. Situational awareness is

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Seven Ways Frustration Can Impact Situational Awareness

1 Comment / Accountability, Article, Bravado, Decision Making, Experience, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Frustration, Safety / Rich Gasaway

Anyone who’s been frustrated knows it can consume a lot of your mental energy and thinking space. This can significantly impact your situational awareness. In fact, depending on the level of frustration, your brain can be hijacked by all-consuming thoughts about what is causing the angst. While operating at an emergency scene, frustration may draw

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Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 7: The Superman/Superwoman

Article, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Ego, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Leadership, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

Welcome to installment seven of the Nine Dangerous Mindsets series. While these mindsets may have many dangerous implications, my focus is to bring light to how they can impact situational awareness and team safety. I have been receiving some amazing feedback so far on this series. Readers are sharing that I have struck a chord,

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Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 6: The Silent

1 Comment / Article, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Safety, Situational awareness, Stress / Rich Gasaway

Welcome to part six of this nine-part series on dangerous mindsets that can impact situational awareness. I appreciate all of the very kind feedback I have been receiving on this series on Facebook, Twitter and by email. Your positive feedback energizes me so much. Thank you. In this segment we’re going to discuss the Silent member.

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Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 5: The Stubborn

8 Comments / Accountability, Article, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Leadership, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

Welcome to the fifth of the nine-part series on dangerous mindsets that can impact situational awareness and, subsequently, the safety of your team. In this article I am going to address the stubborn team member. This individual can be described as one set in their ways, closed minded and perhaps even defiant. Their narrowed view

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Nine Dangerous Mindsets: Part 4 – The Superior

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Article, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Leadership, Mental Models, Safety, Situational awareness, Stress, Teamwork / Rich Gasaway

Welcome to the fourth installment of the Dangerous Mindsets series. Previously I talked about the dangerous mindsets of the Starter, the Subordinate and the Specialist. This article addresses the Superior or, more appropriately, the Superior with personal issues and how that can impact situational awareness and team safety. It would be rare for a supervisor

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Multiple Awarenesses

Leave a Comment / Article, Attention Management, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

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

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Another False Alarm: A Tale of Complacency

5 Comments / Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Incompetence, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

Complacency is a big deal for first responders because it impacts your situational awareness on multiple levels. I would like to give every responder the benefit of the doubt that if or when they have found him or herself being complacent that it wasn’t happening on purpose. In other words, I hope every responder desires

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