Decision Making

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

Appoint a DA to improve your SA

In the business world it is not uncommon for executives to appoint someone on the senior staff to serve as the Devil’s Advocate (DA) when considering a major strategic decision. The role of the DA is to look at the strategy from a critical perspective and to raise objections about flaws in the strategy before […]

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Episode170 | Interview with Brad Davidson

Brad Davidson is an industrial firefighter who was conducting an inspection on a furnace when his intuition told him something was wrong. This episode chronicles how trusting his intuition may have saved his life. Length: 49 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen     _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational

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Episode 169 | Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 5

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” This is the final segment 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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