Emotions

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

Five Fatalities and Lessons Learned from Chesterfield County– Flashback episode – Part 1 (Episode 318)

Attitude, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Emotions, Fatigue, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Illness, Information overload, Invincible, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Stress, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance /

In the early morning hours of January 17, 2016, Chesterfield County Fire & EMS responded to a residential fire on Wicklow Lane that would result in fire civilian fire fatalities, including 2 children. This three-part interview chronicles the event, the situational awareness challenges and the lessons learned from the first-in captain and the first arriving […]

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Situational Awareness Q & A Session – Part 2 (Episode 317)

Attitude, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Emotions, Fatigue, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Illness, Information overload, Invincible, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Stress, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance /

Episode 315 focused on the process for developing and maintaining situational awareness. The program was very engaging and there were over 40 questions asked.  This episode is part 2 of a 2-part episode addresses the questions. During this Pandemic, I have heard the term situational awareness spoken more times than I can ever remember.  Media

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Situational Awareness Q & A Session – Part 1 (Episode 316)

Attitude, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Emotions, Fatigue, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Illness, Information overload, Invincible, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Stress, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance /

Episode 315 focused on the process for developing and maintaining situational awareness. The program was very engaging and there were over 40 questions asked.  This episode is part 1 of a 2-part episode addresses the questions. During this Pandemic, I have heard the term situational awareness spoken more times than I can ever remember.  Media

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Situational Awareness 101 (Episode 315)

Attitude, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Emotions, Fatigue, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Illness, Information overload, Invincible, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Stress, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance /

During this Pandemic, I have heard the term situational awareness spoken more times than I can ever remember.  Media pundits, medical experts, emergency managers – they’re all telling us it’s important to maintain situational awareness.  In one respect, this warms my heart because situational awareness has been my passion topic for more than 15 years. 

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Three Kinds of Stress You Might Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Episode 314)

Leave a Comment / Attitude, Confusion, Decision Making, Disoriented, Emotions, Fatigue, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Illness, Information overload, Invincible, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Stress, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance /

In this episode, we explore three types of stress you might experience resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic including: Acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress. Length: 26 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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Situational Awareness Thoughts and Observations About Covid-19 (Episode 313)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assumptions, Attitude, Biases, Bravado, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Confusion, Defiance, Denial, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Expectations, Fatigue, Fear, Frustration, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Information overload, Invincible, Leadership, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Multitasking, Over Confident, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Under Confident, understaffing, Vigilance /

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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Mental Health Mayday – The Verne and Chancy Friesen Story – Part 2 (Episode 311)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assertiveness, Assumptions, Attitude, Bravado, Building Construction, Close Call, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Emotions, Expectations, Fear, Human Behavior, Illness, Judgment, Leadership, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Perception Of Reality, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Stress /

  This interview is part 2 of a 2-part interview with Laverne Friesen and his wife, Chancy, talking about his mental health near miss and how they are working through the challenges together. Length: 56 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your

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Mental Health Mayday – The Verne and Chancy Friesen Story – Part 1 (Episode 310)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assertiveness, Assumptions, Attitude, Bravado, Building Construction, Close Call, Communications, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Emotions, Expectations, Fear, Human Behavior, Illness, Judgment, Leadership, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Perception Of Reality, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Stress /

This interview is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Laverne Friesen and his wife, Chancy, talking about his mental health near miss and how they are working through the challenges together. Length: 51 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your

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The Communications Specialist Role in Forming Situational Awareness

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Article, Assumptions, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Confabulation, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Risk Assessment, Size Up /

Some of the least appreciated members of the emergency response team are the communications specialists (in some venues, termed dispatchers). How do I know this? First, I served as a communications specialist (my job title was “dispatcher”) early in my career and I was routinely subjected to criticism and ridicule from responders because the information

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Big Data Could Spell Big Trouble

Leave a Comment / Article, Attention Management, Emotions, Fatigue, Frustration, Leadership, Multitasking, Technology /

There is a lot being written these days about how “big data” can help emergency scene commanders improve situational awareness and, subsequently, make better decisions. While information (data) is critical to the formation of situational awareness, it is very easy for a commander to become overwhelmed with data. I say this often during my Mental

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