Risk Assessment Archives - Page 16 of 19 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Episode 175 | Positive Reinforcement of Undesired Behavior

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Attitude, Communications, Human Behavior, Leadership, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio / Rich Gasaway

This episode explores how the positive reinforcement of undesired behavior can impact first responder safety. Length: 22 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 […]

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Are You Assuming Risk or Creating Risk?

5 Comments / Article, Checklists, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Experience, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Leadership, Risk Assessment, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

I recently read an article where the author was taking exception to the risk management maxim: ‘We will risk a lot to save a lot and risk little to save little.’ There are several variations on this maxim, including: ‘Great risks will be taken to save savable lives; Moderate risks will be taken to save

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Appoint a DA to improve your SA

1 Comment / Accountability, Article, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Ego, Fear, Human Behavior, Risk Assessment, Safety, Situational awareness, Training / Rich Gasaway

In the business world it is not uncommon for executives to appoint someone on the senior staff to serve as the Devil’s Advocate (DA) when considering a major strategic decision. The role of the DA is to look at the strategy from a critical perspective and to raise objections about flaws in the strategy before

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Episode170 | Interview with Brad Davidson

Leave a Comment / Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Decision Making, Expectations, Gut Feeling, Intuition, Judgment, Mindfulness, Perception, Risk Assessment, SAMatters Radio, Size Up / Rich Gasaway

Brad Davidson is an industrial firefighter who was conducting an inspection on a furnace when his intuition told him something was wrong. This episode chronicles how trusting his intuition may have saved his life. Length: 49 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational

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Aggressive versus conservative

3 Comments / Article, Checklists, Close Call, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Leadership, Line of Duty Death, Risk Assessment, Safety, Training / Rich Gasaway

There is an ongoing debate in the fire service. Unless you are unplugged from social media and online journals, you’re surely aware of it. On one end of the argument are those who believe the fire service is tactically too aggressive and purport this may be contributing to casualties. On the other side of the

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Episode 163 | Lynchburg FD House Fire Near Miss – Part 2

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Close Call, Command Location, Command Support, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Gut Feeling, Judgment, Personnel location, Risk Assessment, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Teamwork, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

Captain Bob Mayes, Captain John Ripley, and Deputy Chief Greg Wormser were on the first-alarm assignment to a report of a residential dwelling fire. As the incident progressed conditions changed which resulted in a significant near-miss event. This is part 2 of a two-part interview. Length: 47 minutes Click the YouTube icon to listen

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Episode 162 | Lynchburg FD House Fire Near Miss – Part 1

Captain Bob Mayes, Captain John Ripley and Deputy Chief Greg Wormser were on the first-alarm assignment to a report of a residential dwelling fire. As the incident progressed, conditions changed, which resulted in a significant near-miss event. This is part 1 of a two-part interview. Length: 39 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen

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Episode 160 | Smoke explosion in Virginia, Minnesota

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Benchmarks, Close Call, Command Location, Command Presence, Command Support, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Gut Feeling, Judgment, Near Miss, Pattern Matching, Personnel location, Risk Assessment, SAMatters Radio, Size Up, Teamwork, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

On December 19, 2016, the Virginia (Minnesota) Fire Department responded to a multi-family residential dwelling fire where a smoke explosion occurred. Length: 59 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

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Risk Versus Reward

7 Comments / Article, Decision Making, Risk Assessment, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

At 2:04 AM, the fire department was dispatched for a fire in a commercial building. Upon arrival, the first engine reports a working fire and commences with the interior fire attack. Upon entry, the engine crew reports high heat conditions and low visibility, but they pressed onward. Situational awareness is marginal. Soon the second engine and

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Episode 148 | James Johnson Interview on Building Construction

2 Comments / Building Construction, Close Call, Competency, Culture, Decision Making, Experience, Line of Duty Death, Personnel location, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Technology, Training / Rich Gasaway

In the episode I interview Journeyman Carpenter and Vancouver Firefighter James Johnson, sharing building construction lessons for firefighters. Length: 52 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

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