Rich Gasaway

Richard B. Gasaway served 33 years on the front lines as a firefighter, EMT-Paramedic and fire chief. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree while studying how individuals, teams and organizations develop and maintain situational awareness and make decisions in high stress, high consequence, time compressed environments. Dr. Gasaway is widely considered to be one of the nation's leading authorities on first responder situational awareness and decision making. His material has been featured and referenced in more than 400 book chapters, research projects, journal articles, podcasts, webinars and videos. His research and passion to improve workplace safety through improved situational awareness is unrivaled. Dr. Gasaway's leadership and safety programs have been presented to more than 42,000 first responders, emergency managers, medical providers, military personnel, aviation employees, industrial workers and business leaders throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Episode171 | Expectations can impact Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attitude, Bravado, Culture, Emotions, Expectations, Fear, Human Behavior, Judgment, Perception Of Reality, Preoccupation, Risk, SAMatters Radio, Stress, Task Fixation, Tunnel Vision /

  This episode explores how our expectations can create stress and how stress can lead to task fixation, contribute to tunnel vision and cause a host of other situational awareness problems. Length: 26 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen       _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and […]

Episode171 | Expectations can impact Situational Awareness Read More »

Episode170 | Interview with Brad Davidson

Leave a Comment / Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Decision Making, Expectations, Gut Feeling, Intuition, Judgment, Mindfulness, Perception, Risk Assessment, SAMatters Radio, Size Up /

Brad Davidson is an industrial firefighter who was conducting an inspection on a furnace when his intuition told him something was wrong. This episode chronicles how trusting his intuition may have saved his life. Length: 49 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational

Episode170 | Interview with Brad Davidson Read More »

Anchoring Bias as a Barrier to Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Distractions and Interruptions, Ego, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Meta Awareness, Neuroscience, Repetition, Safety, Tacit Knowledge /

There are over 100 cognitive biases that can impact situational awareness, and subsequently, decision making. Many of these biases are discussed during the Mental Management of Emergencies and Flawed Situational Awareness programs because it is important for responders to understand that we may possess a bias without knowing it and without knowing the impact of

Anchoring Bias as a Barrier to Situational Awareness Read More »

Episode 169 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 5

Leave a Comment / Anger, Assertiveness, Bravado, Command Presence, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Judgment, Leadership, Optimism, Over Confident, Pressure, SAMatters Radio, Stress /

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is the final segment of a 5-part series that explores situational awareness insanity. Length: 26 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational

Episode 169 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 5 Read More »

Firefighter Safety: Mistakes & Best Practices – Virtual Program

Online Classes, Virtual Training /

Firefighter Safety: Mistakes & Best Practices Program Length: 2 hours Format: Live (virtual) training and includes a live Q&A session with Dr. Gasaway When: On the date and time of your department’s regular training. Train all of your members for $999 Includes a recorded playback for members who cannot attend the live training. CLICK HERE to

Firefighter Safety: Mistakes & Best Practices – Virtual Program Read More »

Aggressiveness and Situational Awareness

7 Comments / Article, Building Construction, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Emotions, Human Behavior, Safety, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Stress, Teamwork, Training /

I was recently contacted by email from a Situational Awareness Matters member asking if aggressiveness and safety can co-exist at an emergency scene. My answer was “of course they can.” The two actions, being safe and being aggressive are not mutually exclusive. To think they are is to believe responders must sacrifice safety when they

Aggressiveness and Situational Awareness Read More »

Episode 168 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 4

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Benchmarks, Decision Making, Expectations, Judgment, Mental Models, Mission Myopia, Perception, Prediction, SAMatters Radio, Task Fixation, Tunnel Vision /

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is Part 4 of a 5-part series that explores situational awareness insanity. Length: 23 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

Episode 168 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 4 Read More »

Aggressive versus conservative

3 Comments / Article, Checklists, Close Call, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Leadership, Line of Duty Death, Risk Assessment, Safety, Training /

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 »

Episode 167 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 3

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Automatic Action, Benchmarks, Confabulation, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Expectations, Human Behavior, Judgment, Mental Models, Neuroscience, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Prediction, SAMatters Radio, Sensory Conflict /

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is Part 3 of a 5-part series that explores situational awareness insanity. Length: 30 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

Episode 167 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 3 Read More »

© 2025 SAMatters.com. All rights reserved.

Created by: Torrch