Complacency Archives - Page 4 of 13 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

The 360 Degree Size-up (Episode 329)

Accountability, Assumptions, Automatic Action, Automatic Action, Building Construction, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Expectations, Habits, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Multitasking, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Progress Reports, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Task Fixation / Rich Gasaway

You might think that by now the importance of completing a 360-degree size-up would be second nature for firefighters. But it’s not. In fact, failing to complete a proper size-up remains one of the most often cited contributing factors in NIOSH Line-of-Duty death reports. There are lots of reasons why proper size-ups are not completed. […]

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Bravado – A barrier to situational awareness (Episode 327)

Accountability, Anger, Assertiveness, Attitude, Bravado, Command Location, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Ego, Emotions, Experience, Fear, Frustration, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Incompetence, Invincible, Over Confident, Pressure, Risk, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Sensory Conflict, Under Confident / Rich Gasaway

Bravado is defined as “a bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate.” A co-worker or boss displaying bravado can be dangerous because their need to impress or intimidate can cause them to miss critical clues and cues and flaw their situational awareness. Length: 12 minutes Click the YouTube icon to

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Situational Awareness Thoughts and Observations About Covid-19 (Episode 313)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assumptions, Attitude, Biases, Bravado, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Confusion, Defiance, Denial, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Expectations, Fatigue, Fear, Frustration, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Information overload, Invincible, Leadership, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Multitasking, Over Confident, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Under Confident, understaffing, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, I share situational awareness thoughts and observations about the COVID-19 Pandemic and address 25 situational awareness barriers that are causing me concern. Length: 65 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ All of our live event topics are now available, virtually. CLICK HERE for details, enrollment

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Surviving the Fire Service – The Todd LeDuc Interview (Episode 307)

1 Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attitude, Biases, Bravado, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Illness, Invincible, Line of Duty Death, Mindfulness, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Physical Fitness, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Size Up, Stress, Vigilance, Weather, Workload Management, Worksheets / Rich Gasaway

An interview with Retired Broward County Operations Chief Todd LeDuc, discussing first responder health, wellness and survival. Length: 63 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 making to a higher level, check out the

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It’s Only A Vehicle Fire!

Leave a Comment / Article, Attention Management, Complacency, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Safety / Rich Gasaway

I’d like to thank one of the loyal Situational Awareness Matters readers (whose name and department I am holding in confidence) for sending me a picture and a story about a van fire, no, a ‘routine van fire‘ his department had recently. On the arrival of the engine, the officer reported a working fire and

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Commercial Building Mayday. The Atascocita Fire Story – Part 2 (Episode 304)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attention Management, Benchmarks, Building Construction, Checklists, Close Call, Cognitive Memory, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Complacency, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Gut Feeling, Habits, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Miscommunications, Mission, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Radios, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Time Distortion, Training / Rich Gasaway

Today’s episode is Part 2 of my 2-part interview with three command officers from the Atascocita Fire Department in Houston, Texas, sharing a story of a commercial building fire that resulted in a mayday. Length: 63 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking

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Commercial Building Mayday. The Atascocita Fire Story – Part 1 (Episode 303)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attention Management, Benchmarks, Building Construction, Checklists, Close Call, Cognitive Memory, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Complacency, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Gut Feeling, Habits, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Miscommunications, Mission, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Radios, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Time Distortion, Training / Rich Gasaway

Today’s episode is Part 1 of my 2-part interview with three command officers from the Atascocita Fire Department in Houston, Texas, sharing a story of a commercial building fire that resulted in a mayday. Length: 67 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking

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Situational Awareness Lessons from a Line of Duty Death

Leave a Comment / Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Line of Duty Death, Personnel location, Risk Assessment, Safety, Simulation, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Task Saturation, Teamwork / Rich Gasaway

Watch this YouTube video detailing the circumstances of a firefighter line of duty death in which a firefighter from British Columbia was tragically killed when a shipping container exploded without warning. Oftentimes when a firefighter is killed in the line of duty the lessons are not shared. Credit to the department and the province for

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Surrounded by Fire: The Roree Payment Story – Part 2 (Episode 298)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attention Management, Building Construction, Close Call, Command Location, Command Support, Communications, Complacency, Confusion, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Judgment, Mindfulness, Mission, Near Miss, Optimism, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Prediction, Risk, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Staffing, Task Fixation, Teamwork, Technology, understaffing / Rich Gasaway

This episode is part 2 of a 2-part interview with Clearview Fire & EMS Chief Roree Payment, sharing the details of a residential dwelling fire near-miss where he was caught in a fireball due to rapidly changing, wind-driven conditions. Length: 51 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If

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Surrounded by Fire: The Roree Payment Story – Part 1 (Episode 297)

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Clearview Fire & EMS Chief Roree Payment, sharing the details of a residential dwelling fire near-miss where he was caught in a fireball due to rapidly changing, wind-driven conditions. Length: 47 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If

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