Information overload Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Preview of the Auditory Exclusion Chapter of My New Smart Workers Book (Episode 288)

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Cognitive Memory, Command Location, Communications, Confabulation, Confusion, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Equipment, Expectations, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Information overload, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Pre Arrival Lens, Radios, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Sensory Conflict, Shared Mental Models, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Technology, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, I preview the chapter on Auditory Exclusion from my new book, How Smart Workers Use Situational Awareness to Improve Safety. Length: 27 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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Using the Simulation Environment to Improve Situational Awareness

11 Comments / Article, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Information overload, Mental Models, Neuroscience, Safety, Simulation, Situational awareness, Stress, Technology, Training, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

Many first responder training programs use simulation in the development of decision-making competencies. Simulation exercises help develop skills in setting strategy and tactics, in applying policies and procedures and in developing critical thinking skills. How can simulations be used in the development of situational awareness skills? The answer lies, in part, in understanding what situational

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Task Saturation Impacts Situational Awareness

1 Comment / Article, Attention Management, Checklists, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Information overload, Safety, Situational awareness, Staffing, Stress, Task Saturation, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

There’s no doubt that in dynamically changing, high-risk, high-consequence environments someone could be called upon to perform many varied tasks, some at the same time. When staffing levels are low, the likelihood of this situation increases significantly. The problem this creates is the brain does not perform well when task saturated, especially in stressful situations.

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Drone Responders Interview with Charles Werner (Episode 281)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attention Management, Automation, Command Location, Command Support, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Equipment, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Information overload, Judgment, Mindfulness, Multitasking, Personnel location, Pre Arrival Lens, Progress Reports, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Task Fixation, Technology, Training / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, Fire Chief (ret.) Charles Werner discusses how drone technology can be used to enhance first responder situational awareness and improve access to critical decision making information. Length: 61 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and

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Selective Listening Can Be A Barrier To Situational Awareness

3 Comments / Article, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Distractions and Interruptions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Information overload, Multitasking, Selective Listening / Rich Gasaway

Because first responders frequently operate in environments where there are multiple auditory inputs (e.g., radio traffic, face-to-face communications, ambient sounds, etc.) they are often forced to prioritize what they listen to (or don’t listen to). This can cause issues with situational awareness.

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Situational Awareness and Decision Making Tips for Training

1 Comment / Accountability, Article, Attention Management, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Emotions, Fatigue, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Information overload, Intuition, Multitasking, Questions & Answers, Risk Assessment, Safety, Simulation, Size Up, Teamwork, Technology, Training / Rich Gasaway

I recently received an email from a SAMatters community member asking for tips to improve size-up, situational awareness and decision making while training in a flashover simulator. It was a great question (thank you Captain Scott Byers from the Tracy Fire Department)! I offered Scott a number of ideas and thought it would be good

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Radio Discipline (Episode 272)

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Cognitive Memory, Communications, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Distractions and Interruptions, Equipment, Human Behavior, Information overload, Miscommunications, Overload, Progress Reports, Radios, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Sensory Conflict, Shared Mental Models, Short Term Memory, Size Up, Tunneled Senses / Rich Gasaway

This episode discusses the importance of radio discipline in developing and maintaining situational awareness. Length: 19 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 level, check out the Situational Awareness Matters

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Room for Improvement

2 Comments / Accountability, Article, Auditory exclusion, Communications, Decision Making, Expectations, Information overload, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

I recently read an investigation report where a firefighter died and it made me sad. First, as we see so often in after action reviews, it appears as though the tragedy may have been preventable. The second thing that made me sad about this investigation report was the inaccurate and incomplete recommendations about situational awareness.

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Noise Impacts Situational Awareness

1 Comment / Article, Attention Management, Communications, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Information overload, Neuroscience, Safety, Situational awareness, Stress / Rich Gasaway

Some time ago I had the honor of visiting and receiving a tour of the Hong Kong Fire Department training center. Many of the props used there are similar to what I have seen in the United States. However, there was one very noticeable difference in the maze they use to train firefighters. Noise! They

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Nine considerations when evaluating incident command software

1 Comment / Article, Assumptions, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Expectations, Experience, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Frustration, Information overload, Interruptions, Safety, Technology / Rich Gasaway

As you attend conferences that have vendor display areas, pay attention to how many incident management software vendors claim to have programs that can “develop situational awareness” in first responders. This claim is often founded on the belief that as the software is able to capture, assemble and display layers and layers of data that,

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