These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making articles related to first responder safety.
Welcome to part four of the series on understanding stress. In the first three segments I talked about the various kinds of stress people in high risk jobs can experience. For seasoned veterans, the information shared likely served as a good review. For newer members, it may have alerted you to the stressors that may […]
Understanding Stress – Part 4: Hyper Vigilance Read More »
This episode is part 2 of a 3-part interview with the incident commander from the German Township Fire Department who was in charge of a residential dwelling fire where a backdraft occurred followed by a Mayday call. Length: 40 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If
Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 2 (Episode 250) Read More »
Stress. Who needs it?! The fact is, we all need it! Welcome to part 3 of my series on stress. In part 2 I discussed three kinds of bad stress: Acute stress, episodic acute stress and chronic stress. Each of them triggered by different things. In some instances the impact is short-lived. In other instances,
Understanding Stress – Part 3: Some stress is good Read More »
This episode is part 1 of a 3-part interview with the incident commander from the German Township Fire Department who was in charge of a residential dwelling fire where a backdraft occurred followed by a Mayday call. Length: 67 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If
Backdraft and Mayday! – Part 1 (Episode 249) Read More »
Welcome to Part 2 of my series on stress. The goal of this segment is to discuss three types of stress: Acute stress, episodic acute stress and chronic stress. Anyone on an emergency scene can, and often do, experience all three. Stress can impact situational awareness and, equally concerning, stress can have devastating long-term impacts.
Understanding Stress – Part 2: Types of stress Read More »
I field a lot of questions about stress during my programs. I think this is, in part, because of how pervasive stress is in the lives of anyone involved in an emergency situation and the role that stress plays in situational awareness and decision making. So I thought I’d write an article about stress. Well,
Understanding Stress – Part 1: The Physical, Chemical and Emotional Impact Read More »
In this episode, we discuss how workers can improve their safety by using mental rehearsals. Length: 21 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
Mental Rehearsal (Episode 247) Read More »
Perhaps you’re going to think I’ve been out in the sun too long when you read this proclamation: I want you to make more mistakes! What? It’s true, I do. But before you stop reading this article out of distain for such an absurd statement, please gift me just five minutes of your time to
Resilient Problem Solvers Read More »
In this episode, you get to sit in on a segment of a situational awareness program where Dr. Gasaway discusses four situational awareness barriers. Length: 33 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
Pre-Arrival Lens, Task Fixation, Mission Myopia and Fear (Episode 246) Read More »
The social interaction between coworkers may not be on your mind as you think about situational awareness. But the fact is we are all influenced by our relationships with others. We have an inherent internal desire to be well-liked and respected. We also have a very strong internal drive to avoid embarrassment. These traits of
Peer Pressure Can Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
