Firefighter Situational Awareness

These articles related to firefighter situational awareness.

Conducting Realistic Fire Training – SAM 358

In this episode we put the shoe on the other foot… and I am interviewed by Chris Crawford is a firefighter with the Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Fire Department and a Public Administration major at Point Park University. Chris was writing a paper on firefighter training for his Applications of Fire Research Class and asked to […]

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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 Jason Corthell Story. The Next Chapter. Part 2 – SAM 348

On March 27, 2015, Cypress Creek District Chief Jason Corthell was trapped and injured during a fire where a stairwell unexpectedly collapsed at an apartment building fire in Texas.  This is Part 2 of his follow-up story and the road to physical and mental recovery. Back on Episode 55, then Cypress Creek Lieutenant Jason Corthell

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The Jason Corthell Story. The Next Chapter. Part 1 – SAM 347

On March 27, 2015, Cypress Creek District Chief Jason Corthell was trapped and injured during a fire where a stairwell unexpectedly collapsed at an apartment building fire in Texas.  This the follow-up story of his road to physical and mental recovery. Back on Episode 55, then Cypress Creek Lieutenant Jason Corthell shared his close call

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Sharing multiple near-miss experiences including being held-up at gunpoint. The Jim Arie Story – Part 2 (Episode 332)

This episode is Part 2 of a 2-part interview where we learn about multiple near-miss events experienced by retired Fire Chief, Jim Arie throughout his 43-year career and he’ll discuss the situational awareness lessons from being held-up at gunpoint in March, 2020. Length: 40 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full video.  

Sharing multiple near-miss experiences including being held-up at gunpoint. The Jim Arie Story – Part 2 (Episode 332) Read More »

Sharing multiple near-miss experiences including being held-up at gunpoint. The Jim Arie Story – Part 1 (Episode 331)

This episode is Part 1 of a 2-part interview where we learn about multiple near-miss events experienced by retired Fire Chief, Jim Arie throughout his 43-year career and he’ll discuss the situational awareness lessons from being held-up at gunpoint in March, 2020. Length: 41 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full video.  

Sharing multiple near-miss experiences including being held-up at gunpoint. The Jim Arie Story – Part 1 (Episode 331) Read More »

Tracking of Personnel

Accountability: A critically important component of emergency scene safety when personnel operates in a hazardous environment. From the perspective of situational awareness, accountability plays several roles. The obvious role is personnel accountability facilitates the rapid deployment of rescue teams if something goes awry. Command knows the crew sizes and where they are operating and can

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The Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System – Part 2 (Episode 306)

Today’s episode is Part 2 of my 2-part interview with John Russ, Program Director for the IAFC Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System. Length: 45 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO         __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher

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Commanders in Turnout Gear

I recently read, with great interest, a very long thread on Facebook about whether or not an incident commander should wear turnout gear at a fire scene. As my focus and passion is improving first responder situational awareness, I would like to address this issue from that perspective. The feedback on Facebook was, as expected,

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