These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to complacency.
In this episode, Beaver Dam Fire & Rescue Chief Alan Mannel shares the details of a shootout incident that occurred while he was serving as a police officer in Illinois. Length: 57 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational […]
Episode129 | Interview with Beaver Dam Fire & Rescue Chief Alan Mannel Read More »
I received the following feedback to a recent Situational Awareness Newsletter. I thought I’d share it and use it as an introduction to this article. Here’s what he had to say: __________ I forwarded your newsletter to every one of my email contacts. The newsletter was especially appropriate for some of the people on my mailing list
Will Denial Make the Problem Better or Worse? Read More »
In this episode I sat down for an interview with Instructor John Dixon to discuss his passion topic – the normalization of deviance. Length: 63 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
Episode 120 | Interview with Instructor John Dixon 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 »
In this episode we explore the importance of developing and maintain situational awareness while operating on the scenes of vehicle fires. Length: 34 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
Episode 115 | Vehicle Fire 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 »
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 »
This episode discusses the fire service “perfect storm” – a combination of unpredictable circumstances that lead to a catastrophic outcome. Length: 39 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
Episode 109 | The Perfect Storm Read More »
In this episode I interview Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr. After serving 30 years with Montgomery County Fire Department, Chief Lohr accepted a position with the Hagerstown Fire Department – a department much smaller than his previous department and with far fewer resources. We discuss the safety and the improvements
Episode 107 | Interview with Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr Read More »
During a recent situational awareness program a participant was discussing something that went wrong at a routine call. As the story went, the crew had been to this address numerous times for the same (or similar) problem. Each time, the issue was resolved quickly and without incident. The call was, by his words, routine. So,
