Situational Readiness Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

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 Readiness of the Personal Variety

2 Comments / Article, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness / Rich Gasaway

This contribution comes to Situational Awareness Matters by way of a great LinkedIn connection I made recently with Tim Greene, CEO of EMS Options LLC. I found out about Tim and his mission while surfing his bio on LinkedIn. (Yes, I am among the few who actually read about the people I get connected with

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Resilient Problem Solvers

5 Comments / Article, Culture, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Mental Models, Neuroscience, Repetition, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Teamwork, Training / Rich Gasaway

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

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Twelve Ways to Situational Awareness

6 Comments / Article, Communications, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Gasaway Consulting Group, Human Factors, Incompetence, Information overload, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Staffing, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas everyone! With Thanksgiving day in the past, it is officially the Christmas season! I know everyone’s feeling particularly festive this time of year and I have caught the Christmas spirit in a very situational awareness sort of way. Surely you’ve heard of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” -You know –

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Firefighting: It’s a whole new ballgame

6 Comments / Accountability, Article, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Fear, Human Behavior, Leadership, Mayday and RIT, Personnel location, Risk Assessment, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Training, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

There is little doubt the economic recession of 2008-2009 had a significant impact on the nation’s fire service. Hardly a day went by where there wasn’t some news about an organization that downsized, rightsized or capsized. There are all kinds of explanations and terms being attached to what happened. One I heard at the time

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Expectations and situational awareness

Leave a Comment / Article, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Mental Models, Meta Awareness, Risk Assessment, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up / Rich Gasaway

The ability to develop and maintain situational awareness is a far more complex process than most people realize. I’ve had many responders say to me that as long as they are “paying attention” or “keeping their head on a swivel” or “looking up, down and all around”, they will have strong situational awareness. I truly

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Every EMS Call Starts with Scene Safety

8 Comments / Article, Checklists, Communications, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Neuroscience, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Training / Rich Gasaway

“Scene Safe, BSI.” These words have been uttered by every first responder who has ever received medical training. In fact, any responder who has performed a practical exercise for certification knows the first two mandatory skills to be completed on the evaluation checklist are: (1) Ensure the scene is safe before entering; and (2) Don

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Duty to Die Syndrome

8 Comments / Accountability, Article, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Ego, Emotions, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Teamwork, Training / Rich Gasaway

I recently sent out a message across my social media networks (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) about bravado being a barrier to situational awareness. The message, in case you missed it, read: Bravado: The purposeful ignorance of critical signs of danger coupled with a sense of invincibility. A barrier to situational awareness. First responders sometimes confuse

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A Must-See Safety Video

2 Comments / Accountability, Article, Communications, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Fear, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Incompetence, Leadership, Physical Fitness, Safety, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Size Up, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

I would like to recommend that you all watch this video created by the Chicago Fire Department, depicting the [clickandtweet handle=”richgasaway” hashtag=”samatters” related=”samatters” layout=”” position=””]powerful life stories of firefighters who have been injured or killed.[/clickandtweet]

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No SOPs = No Game Plan

2 Comments / Article, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness / Rich Gasaway

I have many opportunities to talk with first responders about the importance of having Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs). These documents are essential to the safety of responders because they set the standard for training and for incident operations. [clickandtweet handle=”RichGasaway” hashtag=”#situationalawareness” related=”samatters” layout=”” position=””]Let’s look at why SOPs or

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