Decision Making

These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to decision making.

Aggressiveness and Situational Awareness

I was recently contacted by email from a Situational Awareness Matters member asking if aggressiveness and safety can co-exist at an emergency scene. My answer was “of course they can.” The two actions, being safe and being aggressive are not mutually exclusive. To think they are is to believe responders must sacrifice safety when they […]

Aggressiveness and Situational Awareness Read More »

Episode 168 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 4

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is Part 4 of a 5-part series that explores situational awareness insanity. Length: 23 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

Episode 168 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 4 Read More »

Aggressive versus conservative

There is an ongoing debate in the fire service. Unless you are unplugged from social media and online journals, you’re surely aware of it. On one end of the argument are those who believe the fire service is tactically too aggressive and purport this may be contributing to casualties. On the other side of the

Aggressive versus conservative Read More »

Episode 167 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 3

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is Part 3 of a 5-part series that explores situational awareness insanity. Length: 30 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

Episode 167 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 3 Read More »

Situational Awareness Matters!

Administrative chiefs and emergency responses

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 »

Episode 166 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 2

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is Part 2 of a 5-part series that explores situational awareness insanity. Length: 25 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

Episode 166 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 2 Read More »

Episode 165 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 1

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is Part 1 of a 5-part series that explores situational awareness insanity. Length: 26 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk

Episode 165 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 1 Read More »

A situational awareness paradigm shift

Paradigm: A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitute a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them . Recent research conducted by Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have revealed a flaw in a long standing paradigm about fire attack. As this blog does not

A situational awareness paradigm shift Read More »

Episode 164 | Predicting the future

One of the most challenging parts of situational awareness development is making an accurate prediction about what is going to happen in the future.  This is one of the most often overlooked components of situational awareness development and the outcome can be catastrophic. Length: 30 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________

Episode 164 | Predicting the future Read More »

A Must-See Safety Video

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 »