These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making articles related to first responder safety.
I recently was contacted by a fire officer asking whether their mayday procedure should include a provision for a dedicated mayday channel for the distressed crew to transmit their post-mayday traffic on. This is a question I’ve been asked often enough that I want to dedicate an article to the topic of mayday communications procedures.
Mayday Radio Channel Read More »
This episode celebrates the 4th anniversary of the SAMatters show and chronicles the history of the founder and his tireless mission to improve situational awareness and high-risk decision making. Length: 45 minutes click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO of this interview! __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding
Episode 211 | 4th Anniversary episode Read More »
How significant (or stated another way… “How big a deal”) is flawed situational awareness as a contributing factor to firefighter near-miss events at structure fires? A. Not that big a deal B. Pretty big deal C. Really big deal (If you have attended one of my situational awareness programs you probably already know the answer
Flawed Situational Awareness at Structure Fires Read More »
This episode shares observations and lessons learned from the 2018 International Fire Department Instructors Conference. Length: 64 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
Episode 210 | Observations and lessons from FDIC Read More »
Recently I was having a conversation with a fire commander who shared the following experience. He stopped by one of the stations for a visit and came upon a group of firefighters huddled around a computer screen watching videos. Relax. This is not a lecture on watching inappropriate videos on fire department computers. In fact,
How Could They Be So Stupid? Read More »
You develop situational awareness by using your senses to capture information (Level 1 situational awareness). Those clues and cues are then processed into understanding (Level 2 situational awareness). Once you understand what is happening, you can then make predictions of future events (Level 3 situational awareness). This article focuses on the third level of situational
Flawed Expectations of Personnel Can Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
In this episode we discuss the importance of team situational awareness and how it can improve or impact safety. Length: 29 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
Episode 208 | Team Situational Awareness Read More »
A lesson on situational awareness: The tones drop for a reported residential fire. On the way to the call, dispatch reports multiple calls, confirming a working fire. On arrival the crew sees fire blowing out the B-C corner of the single story, detached residential dwelling. The resident is standing in the front yard. A quick
Ignoring the Signs of Danger Read More »
This episode examines how selective listening can impact situational awareness. Length: 27 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 Academy. CLICK HERE for
Episode 207 | Selective Listening Read More »
If I were to tell you that on an emergency scene it is possible for you to use X-Ray vision, you’d probably think I’ve been watching too many Superman movies. But it is possible for you to look right through a solid object on an emergency scene and see what’s beyond it. Seriously! Read on…
Imagination Can Influence Situational Awareness Read More »
