Safety Archives - Page 17 of 43 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

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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Situational Awareness: Catastrophically Important to First Responder Safety

Article, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Safety, Situational awareness / Rich Gasaway

This video serves as an example of the importance of situational awareness. Please do not judge this department, the responders, or the commander. Rather, seek to learn and understand WHY… the things they were doing at the moment in time that things went bad… made sense to them. Those attending the Mental Management of Emergencies

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Life and Death Matters – Chris and Sam Adams Interview – Part 2 (Episode 283)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attitude, Benchmarks, Biases, Bravado, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Goals, Gut Feeling, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Judgment, Leadership, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Pressure, Progress Reports, Repetition, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

This episode is part 2 of a 2-part interview with Chris and Sam Adams discussing their book, Life and Death Matters: Professionalism and Decision-Making for the First Responder. Length: 48 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk

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Life and Death Matters – Chris and Sam Adams Interview – Part 1 (Episode 282)

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Chris and Sam Adams discussing their book, Life and Death Matters: Professionalism and Decision-Making for the First Responder. Length: 42 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk

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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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Interview with Captain Alex Charoni on Near-miss reporting evaluations (Episode 280)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attitude, Close Call, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Judgment, Line of Duty Death, Mayday, Mayday and RIT, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Near Miss, Risk, Risk Assessment, Routines, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, South King County Fire & Rescue Captain Alex Charoni discusses his passion for determining the root cause of near-miss events and the approach his department is taking to improve firefighter safety. Length: 72 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking

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Situational Awareness is a Complex Topic

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Article, Attention Management, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Safety, Staffing, Teamwork, Training / Rich Gasaway

The topic of situational awareness is growing in popularity in the fire service and this is a good thing. For decades the casualty reports have revealed that flawed situational awareness leads to poor decision making and has contributed to tragic fireground outcomes. I am honored to see many of the teachings being shared here on

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Interview with Adam Kinakin, host of The Tactical Breakdown Podcast Show – Part 2 (Episode 279)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assertiveness, Attitude, Cognitive Memory, Communications, Competency, Culture, Decision Making, Experience, Fear, Intuition, Judgment, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Mission Myopia, Neuroscience, Overwhelm, Perception, Prediction, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Stress, Tacit Knowledge, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

This episode is part 2 of a 2-part interview with the host of The Tactical Breakdown Podcast, Adam Kinakin, discussing the importance of situational awareness in high-risk decision-making scenarios Length: 52 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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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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