These are articles on the SAMatters blog.
As public safety providers, we could make a fundamental improvement in developing situational awareness by looking at how we train responders. [tweet this] There are some valuable lessons from brain science that can help you improve the design of your program. One is called context dependent learning. It has been validated through numerous studies and […]
Context Dependent Learning Read More »
Is there such a thing? A “Minor” Mayday. [tweet this] A crew operating in an IDLH environment suddenly find themselves in a tough spot because _____ (you insert the reason). The crew leader’s situational awareness is, at least at that moment, strong as he or she immediately realizes the potential gravity of the situation and
The “Minor” Mayday Read More »
We develop and maintain situational awareness by being perceptive about what is happening around us. To be perceptive, we must pay attention to what is going on in our environment. We can employ all of our senses to help us pay attention – seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling. However, if we let our guard
Complacency – a barrier to situational awareness Read More »
Research has demonstrated that, without question, stress can have significant impacts on situational awareness (SA). Stress can narrow your attention, cause task fixation, contribute to heightened awareness of non-critical information (at the detriment of more critical information) and so much more. As stress erodes situational awareness, it can also impact decision making. The research I
Staffing Levels Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
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
Radio Traffic Can Improve or Destroy Situational Awareness Read More »
Throughout the fire service there are departments whose staffing has been reduced as a result of budget cuts. That is not going to come as a shock to most readers. What has been shocking for me, however, has been the response to my question of what fire department leaders are doing to ensure the situational
When Budgets Impact Staffing, Tactics Must Change Read More »
We all know we have habits. Some of them are good habits. And some of them are…well… not so good. The less often talked about cousin of a habit is a routine. Habits and routines can impact situational awareness in both good and bad ways. [tweet this] But where do habits and routines come from?
The Comfortable Routine of Complacency Read More »
A frequent contributing factor in firefighter casualty incidents is too much radio traffic. This can have a significant impact on first responder situational awareness because it becomes near impossible to take in, process, comprehend and remember the volumes of information being transmitted over the radio when communication is not disciplined. This article explores some of
During my fireground situational awareness classes we talk about the process for making high-stress, high consequence decisions. The first step in this process is performing a rapid size up. When I ask participants how long they take to size up a single-family residential dwelling fire with no exposures, the answer I get ranges from 10
Situational Awareness Starts with the Size-Up Read More »
On November 24, 2011 I wrote an article here on Situational Awareness Matters titled Defensive Decision Making. In that article I made the following statement: Coincidentally, one of the most sickening signs of low self-esteem, over inflated ego and over confidence are displayed on the “NO FEAR” decals some firefighters wear on their helmets. Personally,
Leadership means… Leading! Read More »
