responder safety Archives - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Situational Awareness: Catastrophically Important to First Responder Safety

Article, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

This video serves as an example of the importance of situational awareness. Please do not judge this department, the responders, or the commander. Rather, seek to learn and understand WHY… the things they were doing at the moment in time that things went bad… made sense to them. Those attending the Mental Management of Emergencies […]

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Developing Situational Awareness in Novice Responders

4 Comments / Article, Competency, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Neuroscience, Repetition, Safety, Simulation, Situational awareness, Training / Rich Gasaway

One of the most frequent questions I get asked during the Mental Management of Emergencies and Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder programs is: How can a novice responder develop expert knowledge when the number of fires are going down? It’s a great question and a great concern because so much of situational awareness

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Duty to Die Syndrome

8 Comments / Accountability, Article, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Teamwork, Training / Rich Gasaway

I recently sent out a message across my social media networks (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) about bravado being a barrier to situational awareness. The message, in case you missed it, read: Bravado: The purposeful ignorance of critical signs of danger coupled with a sense of invincibility. A barrier to situational awareness. First responders sometimes confuse

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Radio Traffic Can Improve or Destroy Situational Awareness

1 Comment / Article, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Communications, Complacency, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Information overload, Neuroscience, Safety, Situational awareness, Stress, Training, Tunneled Senses / Rich Gasaway

When it comes to first responder radio traffic I am reminded of the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You may recall that in the story Goldilocks samples three bowls of porridge. One is too hot. One is too cold. And the third is just right. This lesson applies directly to first responder situational

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Episode 24: A situational awareness driving lesson.

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Close Call, Communications, Decision Making, Equipment, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Multitasking, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Training / Rich Gasaway

On this episode, I interview Firefighter Richard Marcus of the New Hartford Volunteer Fire Department in Connecticut. On May 5, 2006, Firefighter Marcus was in the officer’s seat of New Hartford Engine 1 responding to a report of a fire on the roadside.

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