Decision Making Archives - Page 39 of 44 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Episode 131 | Best practices for managing mental workload

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Cognitive Memory, Communications, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Distractions and Interruptions, Human Factors, Information overload, Multitasking, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Prediction, Pressure, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Short Term Memory, Stress, Task Saturation, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, we discuss five best practices for managing mental workload under stressful working conditions. Length: 26 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 the Situational Awareness Matters Online […]

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Completing the 360-Degree Size-Up

Leave a Comment / Article, Decision Making, Safety, Situational awareness, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines / Rich Gasaway

Situational awareness starts with capturing clues and cues in your environment (perception) and then understanding what those clues and cues mean (comprehension). At a structure fire the process of capturing information should involve a complete 360-degree size-up of the scene. Many departments have policies that stipulate the completion of a 360-degree size up. Yet, for

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Episode 128 | Sleep inertia: An interview with Norfolk Fire Lieutenant Jarrod Sergi

Leave a Comment / Cognitive Memory, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Disoriented, Fatigue, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Teamwork / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, I interview Norfolk Fire Lieutenant Jarrod Sergi as he discusses how sleep inertia impacted his awareness and decision making skills at a late-night fire. Length: 58 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision

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Safety Trumps Self-Esteem In Good Decision Making

3 Comments / Article, Decision Making, Ego, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

Part of the process to develop and maintain situational awareness at an emergency scene is having the ability to predict the future of the event. It’s called projection and it’s the highest level of situational awareness. [tweet this] To be good at projecting the future, it is necessary to have expectations about the future events.

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Episode 123 | Positive and Negative Clues and Cues

Leave a Comment / Decision Making, Expectations, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Judgment, Mental Models, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Size Up / Rich Gasaway

In this episode we explore how responders use positive and negative clues and cues to develop and maintain situational awareness at emergency scenes. Length: 30 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

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Episode 115 | Vehicle Fire Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Attention Management, Close Call, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Expectations, Habits, Human Error, Judgment, Near Miss, Over Confident, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Prediction, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Task Fixation / Rich Gasaway

In this episode we explore the importance of developing and maintain situational awareness while operating on the scenes of vehicle fires. Length: 34 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 the Situational

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Episode 109 | The Perfect Storm

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attitude, Bravado, Close Call, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Expectations, Invincible, Leadership, Line of Duty Death, Mission, Near Miss, Over Confident, Prediction, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Training, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

This episode discusses the fire service “perfect storm” – a combination of unpredictable circumstances that lead to a catastrophic outcome. Length: 39 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 the Situational Awareness

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Episode 108 | Working Command and Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Judgment, Meta Awareness, Mission, Multitasking, Personnel location, Prediction, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Training, understaffing, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

This episode explores how situational awareness may be impacted when the first arriving officer establishes a “working command.” Length: 32 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

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Episode 107 | Interview with Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Building Construction, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Leadership, Mission, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Staffing, Teamwork, Training, understaffing / Rich Gasaway

In this episode I interview Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr. After serving 30 years with Montgomery County Fire Department, Chief Lohr accepted a position with the Hagerstown Fire Department – a department much smaller than his previous department and with far fewer resources. We discuss the safety and the improvements

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Radio Communications is Essential to Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Article, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Equipment, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Leadership, Miscommunications, Mission, Radios, Safety, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Training / Rich Gasaway

I was invited to be an observer at a regional police tactical training exercise. The program was a multi-day event, starting with some classroom training and culminating in a series of simulations using mock weapons, flash-bangs and actors. The one thing that readily stood out to me was the tactical teams were not using radios

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