Mental Models Archives - Situational Awareness Matters!™

The Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance – 406

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attention Management, Attitude, Bravado, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Denial, Ego, Emotions, Fatigue, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Frustration, Gut Feeling, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Illness, Intuition, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Line of Duty Death, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Near Miss, Neuroscience, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Physical Fitness, Prediction, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Training, understaffing, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

In this interview, Dr. Gasaway talks with Jeff Dill about the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance and their work to reduce firefighter suicides. Description In 2010, Jeff Dill founded Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA). And since 2021, Jeff has served full time as the Behavioral Health Administrator for Las Vegas Fire & Rescue […]

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The Minnesota Hometown Heroes Assistance Program – 405

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attitude, Bravado, Close Call, Command Support, Communications, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Disoriented, Ego, Emotions, Expectations, Experience, Fatigue, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Frustration, Gut Feeling, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Illness, Intuition, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Line of Duty Death, Lost Focus, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, Near Miss, Neuroscience, Optimism, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Physical Fitness, Prediction, Preoccupation, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Understanding, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

In this interview, Dr. Gasaway talks with George Esbensen, President of the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative (MnFIRE) about the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program. During his 32 years in the fire service, George Esbensen served in many roles, from firefighter to chief. Today, he volunteers as Board President of the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative (MnFIRE),

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The 400th Episode Anniversary of the SAMatters Show – 400

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Anger, Assertiveness, Assumptions, Attention Management, Attitude, Auditory exclusion, Automatic Action, Automatic Action, Automation, Benchmarks, Biases, Bravado, Building Construction, Checklists, Close Call, Cognitive Memory, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Comprehension, Confabulation, Confusion, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Defiance, Denial, Disoriented, Distractions and Interruptions, Ego, Emotions, Equipment, Error Creep, Excited, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Fatigue, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Frustration, Goals, Gut Feeling, Habits, Hallucinations, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Hyper Vigilance, Illness, Incompetence, Independent Goal Setting - Freelancing, Information overload, Insubordination, Interruptions, Intuition, Invincible, Judgment, Leadership, Line of Duty Death, Live Events, Long-Term Memory, Lost Focus, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mental Models, Meta Awareness, Mind Drift, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, Motion Induced Blindness, Multitasking, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Neuroscience, News, Online Classes, Optimism, Over Confident, Over Staffing, Overload, Overwhelm, PAR, Pattern Matching, Perception, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Physical Fitness, Pre Arrival Lens, Prediction, Preoccupation, Pressure, Progress Reports, Questions & Answers, Radios, Repetition, Response Time Delays, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Sensory Conflict, Shared Mental Models, Short Term Memory, Simulation, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Tacit Knowledge, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Technology, Testimonials, Time Distortion, Training, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses, Under Confident, understaffing, Understanding, Vigilance, Virtual Training, Weather, Workload Management, Worksheets / Rich Gasaway

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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Active Shooter Part 2 – Advice for Fire and EMS

1 Comment / Accountability, Article, Attitude, Building Construction, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Decision Making, Emotions, Excited, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Information overload, Intuition, Judgment, Leadership, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Muscle Memory, Neuroscience, Personnel location, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, Situational awareness, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Training, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

When I was in the police academy and went through Active Shooter training it was designed solely for police officers. There was never a mention of EMS or fire department response and how they could assist in these situations. It took approximately 8 years into my career until I went to a training that

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Active Shooter Part 1 – Advice for Law Enforcement

My students often ask me: “Mr. Moldenhauer, what’s the worst call cops could ever go on?” My response is always the same, an active shooter call. I have had my share of terrible calls in my career that will stay with me forever (i.e. suicides, child deaths, and fatal car accidents just to name

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First-in engine under gunfire: The Chris Paskett Interview: Part 2 – SAM 385

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Close Call, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Gut Feeling, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Mission, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork / Rich Gasaway

This is part 2 of a 2-part interview with Eugene-Springfield Fire Battalion Chief Chris Paskett sharing details of a first-in engine crew at a working structure fire taking on gunfire. Eugene-Springfield crews were dispatched to a report of a residential fire with multiple callers confirming a residential dwelling fire. As the officer on the first-in

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First-in engine under gunfire: The Chris Paskett Interview: Part 1 – SAM 384

1 Comment / Accountability, Close Call, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Fear, Gut Feeling, Judgment, Leadership, Mayday, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Near Miss, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Pressure, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork / Rich Gasaway

This is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Eugene-Springfield Fire Battalion Chief Chris Paskett sharing details of a first-in engine crew at a working structure fire taking on gunfire. Eugene-Springfield crews were dispatched to a report of a residential fire with multiple callers confirming a residential dwelling fire. As the officer on the first-in

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What first responders need to know about explosives: The Jarred Alden Interview. Part 1 – SAM 381

1 Comment / Accountability, Assertiveness, Close Call, Communications, Decision Making, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Judgment, Mental Models, Mission, Near Miss, Perception, Prediction, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Size Up, Teamwork, Training, understaffing / Rich Gasaway

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part interview Akron (OH) Fire Lieutenant Jarred Alden shares what we need to know about homemade explosive devices, blast effect, treating blast injury victims, and more. Lieutenant Alden is a paramedic and operations officer for the Akron (OH) Fire Department. He has 17+ years of experience as a

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How Expectations Influence Situational Awareness – SAM 370

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Cognitive Memory, Decision Making, Expectations, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Intuition, Judgment, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Progress Reports, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Tacit Knowledge / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, we discuss how the role expectations play in helping developing situational awareness and influencing decision making. Your highest level of situational awareness is formed when you are able to make accurate predictions about future events. In neuroscience, this is called projection and it simply means you are able to predict, or

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Working Command – SAM 360

Leave a Comment / Automation, Benchmarks, Checklists, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Communications, Competency, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Experience, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Interruptions, Judgment, Leadership, Lost Focus, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Mission, Neuroscience, Personnel location, Preoccupation, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Vigilance, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

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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