Those are first responder situational awareness and decision making issues that relate to staffing, including under staffing, quality of staffing, quantity of staffing, response time delays, mutual aid and automatic aid.
This episode is part three of a nine-part serious on dangerous mindsets that first responders can develop and I offer some advice for dealing with each. This week we talk about the Specialist, (a.k.a. The Know-it-all). Length: 33 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your […]
Episode 152 | Dangerous Mindsets – The Specialist Read More »
This episode is part two of a nine-part serious on dangerous mindsets that first responders can develop and I offer some advice for dealing with each. Length: 28 minutes click the YouTube icon to listen _____________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to
Episode 151 | Dangerous Mindsets – The Subordinate Read More »
In this episode we kick off a nine-part serious on dangerous mindsets that first responders develop and offer some advice for dealing with each. We start off with talking about the starter mindset. That’s the mindset of the brand new responder. It is, in many ways, different from seasoned responders. Length: 30 minutes click
Episode 150 | Dangerous Mindsets – The Starter Read More »
In this segment, we continue our discussion about the seemingly insane things that firefighters do at structure fires. I use the word insane not because the firefighters suffer from a mental affliction. Rather, I use the word insane because we keep doing the same things over and over again while expecting different results. This meets
Explanations for Situational Awareness Insanity – Part 2 Read More »
Welcome to the third article in the four-part We Must Stop The Insanity situational awareness series. In case you missed the previous two articles (which I encourage you to go back and read) or if you need a refresher, indulge me as I do a little recap. In Part 1, I talked about flawed size-ups.
We Must Stop The Insanity: Part 3 Read More »
I am super excited to be able to share with you the features and enrollment options for the newly released Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy. 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
Episode 132 | Online Academy Preview Read More »
Research has demonstrated that, without question, stress can have significant impacts on situational awareness (SA). Stress can narrow your attention, cause task fixation, contribute to heightened awareness of non-critical information (at the detriment of more critical information) and so much more. As stress erodes situational awareness, it can also impact decision making. The research I
Staffing Levels Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
Throughout the fire service there are departments whose staffing has been reduced as a result of budget cuts. That is not going to come as a shock to most readers. What has been shocking for me, however, has been the response to my question of what fire department leaders are doing to ensure the situational
When Budgets Impact Staffing, Tactics Must Change Read More »
This episode explores how situational awareness may be impacted when the first arriving officer establishes a “working command.” Length: 32 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
Episode 108 | Working Command and Situational Awareness Read More »
In this episode I interview Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr. After serving 30 years with Montgomery County Fire Department, Chief Lohr accepted a position with the Hagerstown Fire Department – a department much smaller than his previous department and with far fewer resources. We discuss the safety and the improvements
Episode 107 | Interview with Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr Read More »
