I was invited to be an observer at a regional police tactical training exercise. The program was a multi-day event, starting with some classroom training and culminating in a series of simulations using mock weapons, flash-bangs and actors. The one thing that readily stood out to me was the tactical teams were not using radios […]
Radio Communications is Essential to Situational Awareness Read More »
Every emergency scene operation should begin with determining the mission (sometimes called strategy) and setting task-level goals (sometimes called tactics). Strategy and tactics establish what is to be done and how it is to be done. For example, at a structure fire, arriving responders are trained to conduct search and rescue operations and to extinguish
Mission Myopia: A situational awareness barrier Read More »
While conducting research on how decisions are made during high consequence events I came across a term I’d never heard before – “tacit knowledge.” Once I learned what it was it quickly became evident that I possessed it… and I didn’t know it. In fact, every first responder who has developed expert-level knowledge and skills
Tacit knowledge and situational awareness Read More »
Noise can erode situational awareness in many ways. Loud noises, soft noises, lots of noise, odd noises, familiar noises, annoying noises… all noise can present challenges. In this article, I want to explore some of the challenges first responders face in a noisy environment and I’d like to share my personal example of how noise
Station Alerting Noise Can Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
The mission of Situational Awareness Matters! is “Helping responders see the bad things coming… in time to change the outcome.” That is often easier said than done. In fact, the lessons that sharpen our situational awareness often comes after the fact. It is very easy to see the bad things that were coming when we
Seeing the bad things coming in time to change the outcome Read More »
I seem to be getting asked a lot lately about what the first arriving company officer should do at a working structure fire. Specifically, the debate revolves around two basic premise. Should the first arriving company officer assume a fixed command position outside the structure and coordinate the activities of incoming units? Or, should the
Working Command and Situational Awareness Read More »
Last month I wrote a piece on the traits of high reliability organizations (HROs) and received a lot of very positive feedback. Thank you! This article will focus on the processes used by HROs. These processes definitely provide some valuable lessons for public safety agencies. Compare your organization and see if you may find some
High Reliability Organizations – Processes Read More »
There’s a lot being talked about these days about the concept of high reliability organizations. The concept is being embraced by many hospitals throughout the United States and, arguably, for good reason. The principles of highly reliable organizations have direct application to first responders. This contribution focuses on helping you understand the overarching concept of
High Reliability Organizations – Traits Read More »
There are probably few things I say in a classroom that raises the ire of instructors more than “You’re training your members to fail.” I understand why they wouldn’t want to hear that. No instructor wants a member to fail. Even more so, no instructor wants to be implicated for being the one responsible for
There’s a new breed of worker lining up to be your next member: Are you ready? Like it or not, here they come… The Generation Y first responder! Are you ready? There are 80 million of them and they’re going to be your next crop of new firefighters and EMS providers. They’re a force to be
Newly released program: Are you ready? Read More »
