Distractions and Interruptions

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

The 400th Episode Anniversary of the SAMatters Show – 400

    Dr. Gasaway, along with some special guests, celebrates the milestone of reaching our 400thepisode.   The Situational Awareness Matters Show debuted on May 12, 2014.  This episode highlights the journey Dr. Gasaway has taken to educate first responders about situational awareness and high-risk decision making. About the Host Richard B. Gasaway, PhD, CSP […]

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Sirencide: The Impact of Acute Stress in Emergency Vehicle Crashes – 388

This interview is with Dr. Dusty Lambert, a firefighter who completed his doctoral degree while researching the impact of acute stress in emergency vehicle crashes. Emergency services provide an invaluable service to communities and cities around the world. Research has shown these professionals encounter significant acute psychological stress throughout their work shifts. Acute stress has

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Improving Responder Safety on the Roadway: The John Gonzalez Interview -SAM 380

This episode is an interview with John Gonzalez from Florian Re Appratus, a company focused on improving responder safety on roadway incidents. John Gonzalez is a past District Chief of Toms River Fire District 1 in Ocean County, NJ and has been an active volunteer firefighter for over 30 years.  Chief Gonzalez served as a

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Distractions and Interruptions – SAM 368

In this episode, we preview the distractions and interruptions chapter from the book, How Smart Workers Use Situational Awareness to Improve Safety. Along a worker’s journey toward envisioning, developing, and implementing their plan to guide their (hopefully) successful outcome, they are likely to encounter two situational awareness barriers that can quickly derail their focus. Distractions

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Working Command – SAM 360

In this episode explores how situational awareness may be impacted when the first arriving officer establishes a “working command.” I get asked a lot of questions about what the first arriving company officer should do at a working structure fire. Specifically, the debate revolves around two basic premise. Should the first arriving company officer assume

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Contact with a 33kV Electric Line. The Sioux Falls Fire Department Story – SAM 357

This episode interviews four members of the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Fire Department who experienced a near-miss event when the platform on Truck 7 came into contact with a 33 kV transmission line during a routine truck check at the station.    First responders spend a lot of time together, on calls, in the station,

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Five Situational Awareness Lessons from a LODD Incident – SAM 354

On June 2, 2011, the San Francisco Fire Department suffered the tragic loss of 2 firefighters at 133 Berkeley Way. The episode shares some valuable situational awareness lessons from this tragic incident. The San Francisco Fire Department conducted an internal review of the incident and issued a 156-page report on their findings. Many of the

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The Myth of Multitasking – SAM 346

This episode explores the challenges workers face while operating in dynamically changing conditions that require sharing attention to multiple, concurrent activities – a.k.a., multitasking.  If you are the type of person who can work on your notebook, listen to music on your iPod, talk on your cell phone and text message at the same time,

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Situational Awareness Best Practices for Incident Commanders (Episode 326)

There are three component parts to situational awareness – perception, understanding and prediction.  There are barriers that can impact awareness on all three levels. The application of best practices can help incident commanders reduce the impact of barriers. Length: 35 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full video.   __________________________________________________ All of our

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Situational Awareness Thoughts and Observations About Covid-19 (Episode 313)

In this episode, I share situational awareness thoughts and observations about the COVID-19 Pandemic and address 25 situational awareness barriers that are causing me concern. Length: 65 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ All of our live event topics are now available, virtually. CLICK HERE for details, enrollment

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