These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to crew resource management.
I recently received an email from a firefighter asking for my opinion as to whether or not the administrative chief officers in his department should respond to reported structure fires. My initial response was: “Well, Duh! Yes!” But then I got to thinking about it more. How and when administrative chief officers respond to fires […]
Administrative chiefs and emergency responses Read More »
I would like to recommend that you all watch this video created by the Chicago Fire Department, depicting the [clickandtweet handle=”richgasaway” hashtag=”samatters” related=”samatters” layout=”” position=””]powerful life stories of firefighters who have been injured or killed.[/clickandtweet]
A Must-See Safety Video Read More »
Captain Bob Mayes, Captain John Ripley, and Deputy Chief Greg Wormser were on the first-alarm assignment to a report of a residential dwelling fire. As the incident progressed conditions changed which resulted in a significant near-miss event. This is part 2 of a two-part interview. Length: 47 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen
Episode 163 | Lynchburg FD House Fire Near Miss – Part 2 Read More »
The overall number of structure fires are down nationwide. For the sake of the citizens we protect, this is a good thing. But for the sake of firefighters who need to gain valuable experience through the proverbial baptism by fire, this isn’t such a good thing. I often get asked by company officers and trainers
5 Tips For Improving Situational Awareness Through Training Read More »
Captain Bob Mayes, Captain John Ripley and Deputy Chief Greg Wormser were on the first-alarm assignment to a report of a residential dwelling fire. As the incident progressed, conditions changed, which resulted in a significant near-miss event. This is part 1 of a two-part interview. Length: 39 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen
Episode 162 | Lynchburg FD House Fire Near Miss – Part 1 Read More »
The Soldier Township Fire Department responded to a large brush fire. The incident was unexpectedly interrupted by a tornado that caused crews to scramble for cover. Length: 50 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to
Episode 161 | Soldier Township Tornado Near Miss Read More »
On December 19, 2016, the Virginia (Minnesota) Fire Department responded to a multi-family residential dwelling fire where a smoke explosion occurred. Length: 59 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
Episode 160 | Smoke explosion in Virginia, Minnesota Read More »
This episode is the final installment of a nine-part serious on dangerous mindsets that first responders can develop and I offer some advice for dealing with each. This week we talk about the synergist mindset. Length: 24 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of
Episode 159 | Dangerous Mindsets – The Synergist Read More »
Developing and maintaining situational awareness at an emergency scene can be a very challenging task. Scenes are often stressful, complex, time-compressed, and complicated with rapidly-changing conditions. Responders have lots of information to process and many tasks to perform. And, sadly, situational awareness isn’t always the forefront on their minds. Under such conditions, meta awareness
This episode is part eight of a nine-part serious on dangerous mindsets that first responders can develop and I offer some advice for dealing with each. This week we talk about the slacker mindset. Length: 26 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational
Episode 158 | Dangerous Mindsets – The Slacker Read More »
