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Accountability

These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to accountability.

Firefighting: It’s a whole new ballgame

There is little doubt the economic recession of 2008-2009 had a significant impact on the nation’s fire service. Hardly a day went by where there wasn’t some news about an organization that downsized, rightsized or capsized. There are all kinds of explanations and terms being attached to what happened. One I heard at the time […]

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Episode 203 | Normalization of Deviance

When we are operating under conditions of stress and consequence, coupled with changing conditions and time compression, we can feel a sense of urgency and this can cause us to want to take a shortcut from safety best practices.  Length: 29 minutes       click the YouTube icon to listen       __________________________________________________

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Fifteen Situational Awareness Barriers

The mission of Situational Awareness Matters is to help you see the bad things coming… in time to change bad outcomes. SA is a complex neurological process and I go to painstaking efforts to ensure that what I teach here, on the podcast and in classrooms is “first responder friendly.” I don’t ever want a

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Fear can be a barrier to situational awareness

Everyone has fears and fear can certainly impact a person’s situational awareness. Some people are better at controlling their fears while others are controlled by their fears. Some people mask their fears well while others wear their fear on their sleeves. Some people live in denial of their fears and others face their fears and

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Episode 200 | Chesterfield County Interview – Part 3

This episode is the third (and final) segment of an interview with Chesterfield County Battalion Chief Joy Knicely and Captain Rick Grassel.  Length: 50 minutes click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO of this interview!       __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making

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Episode 199 | Chesterfield County Interview – Part 2

This episode is part two of a three-part interview with Chesterfield County Battalion Chief Joy Knicely and Captain Rick Grassel.  Length: 58 minutes click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO of this interview!       __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a

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Episode 198 | Chesterfield County Interview – Part 1

This episode is part one of a three-part interview with Chesterfield County Battalion Chief Joy Knicely and Captain Rick Grassel.  Length: 46 minutes click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO of this interview!       __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a

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Episode 193 | Herd Mentality

In this episode we discuss the cognitive bias known as herd mentality (or herd behavior).  Length: 31 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 Academy. CLICK HERE for details, enrollment

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Episode 192 | Amtrak Train Derailment Interview with Larry Creekmore

This episode is an interview with DuPont Fire Chief Larry Creekmore. Chief Creekmore was the third-in unit to the December 18, 2017 Amtrak train derailment in Washington state.   Length: 56 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen           __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and

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Episode 191 | Interview with Norfolk Assistant Fire Chief John DiBacco – Part 2

This episode is Part 2 of my interview with Norfolk Assistant Fire Chief John DiBacco talking about the after-action review process used by Norfolk Fire to learn lessons from significant incidents.   Length: 44 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen           __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of

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