These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to decision making.
The mission of this website and my personal passion for situational awareness is to help first responders see the bad things coming in time to change the outcome. Consistent with that mission, I try to help responders understand how various aspects of the job – from training, to human factors, to command competence and everything in […]
Multiple Awarenesses Read More »
This episode revisits Part 2 of an interview with Indianapolis Health & Safety Chief Doug Abernathy discussing his near-miss at the Athletic Club Hotel fire on February 5, 1992 Length: 53 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational
Episode 222 | Doug Abernathy Interview – Part 2 Read More »
Like many of you, I do my best work when I am not interrupted. Whether it’s someone trying to carry on a conversation, a phone ringing or a text message, an interruption disrupts the train of thought. And when the train of thought is disrupted, situational awareness can be adversely impacted.
Interruptions Can Be a Barrier To Situational Awareness Read More »
This episode revisits Part 1 of an interview with Indianapolis Health & Safety Chief Doug Abernathy discussing his near-miss at the Athletic Club Hotel fire on February 5, 1992 Length: 54 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational
Episode 221 | Doug Abernathy Interview – Part 1 Read More »
The development of situational awareness happens on a three-tiered continuum. It begins with perceiving your environment. Then, what is perceived must be understood (and this is not as simple as it may appear). Finally, understanding is used to predict the future. Summarizing, the three-step process: Perception – Understanding – Prediction. This article provides an example
How Flawed Expectations Can Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
This episode revisits Part 2 of an interview conducted September 15, 2014 with Captain John Lightly from the Youngstown (Ohio) Fire Department about his near-miss event. Length: 76 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk
Episode 220 | John Lightly Interview – Part 2 Read More »
This episode revisits Part 1 of an interview conducted September 15, 2014 with Captain John Lightly from the Youngstown (Ohio) Fire Department about his near-miss event. Length: 55 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk
Episode 219 | John Lightly Interview – Part 1 Read More »
I was recently reading some research that mentioned the cognitive bias known as herd mentality (or herd behavior). Stated basically, individuals will group and follow each other for inexplicable reasons. This is sometimes referred to as the “mob mentality” and is observed during riots. When one person yells loudly and charges forward, the herd (or
Herd mentality can impact situational awareness Read More »
This episode revisits an interview conducted on September 1, 2014 with Sean Dolan from the Aurora (Colorado) Fire Department about his near-miss event. Length: 78 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
Episode 218 | Sean Dolan Interview Read More »
This episode explores how over staffing can impact situational awareness. Length: 29 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 Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy. CLICK HERE for
Episode 217 | Overstaffing Read More »
