Human Factors

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

How Flawed Expectations Can Impact Situational Awareness

The development of situational awareness happens on a three-tiered continuum. It begins with perceiving your environment. Then, what is perceived must be understood (and this is not as simple as it may appear). Finally, understanding is used to predict the future. Summarizing, the three-step process: Perception – Understanding – Prediction. This article provides an example […]

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Episode 216 | Task Fixation – A Barrier to Awareness

This episode examines how task fixation can impact situational awareness while working in high-risk environments.  Length: 30 minutes click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO of this interview!         __________________________________________________ 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 210 | Observations and lessons from FDIC

This episode shares observations and lessons learned from the 2018 International Fire Department Instructors Conference.  Length: 64 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 207 | Selective Listening

This episode examines how selective listening can impact situational awareness.  Length: 27 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 Academy. CLICK HERE for

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First, Do No Harm!

Primum non nocere is the Latin phrase that means “first, do no harm.” This is a commonly taught principle in healthcare. In fact, the Hippocratic Oath, taken by doctors, promises they will abstain from doing harm to their patients. The premise is it may be better to NOT do something or to do nothing at

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Episode 204 | Assumptions

When we are operating under conditions of stress and consequence, coupled with changing conditions and time compression, we can feel a sense of urgency and this can cause us to want to take a shortcut from safety best practices.  Length: 27 minutes   click the YouTube icon to listen       __________________________________________________ If you

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Episode 203 | Normalization of Deviance

When we are operating under conditions of stress and consequence, coupled with changing conditions and time compression, we can feel a sense of urgency and this can cause us to want to take a shortcut from safety best practices.  Length: 29 minutes       click the YouTube icon to listen       __________________________________________________

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Episode 202 | Relationship Bias

The episode explores how relationship bias can impact situational awareness.  Length: 29 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen

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Fear can be a barrier to situational awareness

Everyone has fears and fear can certainly impact a person’s situational awareness. Some people are better at controlling their fears while others are controlled by their fears. Some people mask their fears well while others wear their fear on their sleeves. Some people live in denial of their fears and others face their fears and

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Episode 201 | When Unexpected Things Happen

In this episode, we explore what happens when faced with unexpected situations and your brain tries to make sense of the unexpected.  Length: 33 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen

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