Communications

These are the first responder decision making and situational awareness issues and opportunities related to radio, face-to-face and interpersonal communications.

Weather Can Impact Situational Awareness

You may recall from earlier discussions that situational awareness is formed by gathering information about what is happening in the environment around you. Then, your brain takes that information and attempts to form an understanding of what it all means. Finally, after understanding what it means, you make predictions of future events. This is a […]

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The Downside of Experience

There are numerous vocations and daily activities that could be considered extremely dangerous, such as firefighting, oil refineries, construction workers, police officers and so many more, but life itself can be dangerous if we are not aware of our surroundings. Some such things or places that would seem very mundane could result in tragedy if we

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Episode 242 | Eric Dreiman Interview – Part 2

This is part 2 of a 2-part story about an amazing near-miss event where, if their decision to exit was delayed by only a few seconds, it would have likely resulted in a double line-of-duty death. Length: 42 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you

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SAM 241 | Eric Dreiman Interview – Part 1

This is part 1 of a 2-part story about an amazing near-miss event where, if their decision to exit was delayed by only a few seconds, it would have likely resulted in a double line-of-duty death. Length: 38 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you

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Episode 240 | Jason Corthell Interview

In this episode, Cypress Creek Lieutenant Jason Corthell shares his close call survival story where he was operating on the second floor of an exterior stairwell at an apartment building fire. The stairwell, not involved in fire at all, unexpectedly collapsed, trapping Lieutenant Corthell and District Chief Sanchez under tons of steel and concrete. A

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Twelve Ways to Situational Awareness

Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas everyone! With Thanksgiving day in the past, it is officially the Christmas season! I know everyone’s feeling particularly festive this time of year and I have caught the Christmas spirit in a very situational awareness sort of way. Surely you’ve heard of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” -You know –

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Episode 239 | How Could They Be SO Stupid?

  This episode discusses how easy it is for first responders to adopt a judgmental mindset and miss important lessons that can improve situational awareness. Length: 17 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk

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Episode 238 | Ken Prillaman Interview

  This episode is a flashback episode where Fire Chief Ken Prillaman shared his near-miss story where complacency at an EMS call almost resulted in a catastrophe. Length: 45 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

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Episode 237 | Brian Schaeffer Interview

  This episode is a flashback episode where Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer shared his near-miss story at a commercial building fire in Spokane, Washington. Length: 56 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision

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Positive Reinforcement of Undesirable Behavior

In this article I am taking on a topic often discussed in my leadership programs more often than in my situational awareness programs – motivation. I’m not going to get in to depth on the topic of motivation as it takes me a solid four hours in a classroom session to demystify the topic and

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