Training

These are the first responder situational awareness and decision making issues and opportunities related to how responders are trained.

Standards Can Harm Decision Making Under Stress

I am a big advocate of departments having standardized procedures to guide operations as tools to help develop and maintain situational awareness. I don’t really care if you call them Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs). The important thing is you have a set of commonly understood Standards that guide performance. Standards […]

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Drone Responders Interview with Charles Werner (Episode 281)

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)

  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

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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Situational Awareness and Decision Making Tips for Training

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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High Reliability Organization Processes (Episode 276)

This episode explores the processes used by high reliability organizations. 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 Matters Online Academy. CLICK HERE for details,

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Traits of High Reliability Organizations (Episode 275)

This episode explores the traits of high reliability organizations Length: 25 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 Matters Online Academy. CLICK HERE for details, enrollment

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Tacit Knowledge

As you traverse through life, you are constantly gathering and assessing information. This is accomplished though sensory input (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling). The senses are always on, always capturing data. Sometimes you are aware of the data being captured and sometimes you’re not. Sometimes you’re able to readily recall stored data and sometimes

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A Tale of Complacency (Episode 273)

This episode discusses how complacency can creep into our work, impact vigilance and flaw situational awareness. Length: 23 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

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Virtual Reality Simulations – The Paul Speight Interview. (Episode 263)

During this interview, Paul Speight from the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in the United Kingdom shares how his department is developing virtual reality simulations to train first responders. Length: 72 minutes   Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO     __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness

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