Have you ever found yourself so frustrated at an individual or a situation that you become fixated on that issue? When this happens, oftentimes, we become hyper focused on the individual or the situation and can lose awareness of the bigger picture. When this occurs, critical clues and cues, essential to the formation of situational […]
Frustration – A barrier to situational awareness Read More »
In this episode we discuss 19 ways that communications issues can impact Situational Awareness. First responders spend a lot of time together, on calls, in the station, and in many cases in social settings outside of work. All of this interaction builds relationships that allow responders to trust their lives to each other. We’ll
19 Ways Communications can Impact SA – SAM 359 Read More »
Misty Worrell and her partner on Cypress Creek EMS responded to a medical call that would result in two fatalities and the EMS crew being exposed to deadly Methyl Bromide. Because there is no cure for Methyl Bromide poisoning, Misty, a mother of five children, was instructed to get her affairs in order as she
Deadly Methyl Bromide exposure: The Misty Worrell story – Part 2 (Episode 324) Read More »
Misty Worrell and her partner on Cypress Creek EMS responded to a medical call that would result in two fatalities and the EMS crew being exposed to deadly Methyl Bromide. Because there is no cure for Methyl Bromide poisoning, Misty, a mother of five children, was instructed to get her affairs in order as she
Deadly Methyl Bromide exposure: The Misty Worrell story – Part 1 (Episode 323) Read More »
The mission of the Operational Mindset Foundation is to mentally, physically and emotionally prepare those who choose to place themselves in harm’s way every day for the benefit of others… and give them the opportunity to experience what safe feels like when they return home. Length: 32 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full
Interview with Jeff Banman from the Operational Mindset Foundation (Episode 322) Read More »
Situational awareness barriers block a worker’s ability to perceive, understand or predict. I have uncovered and researched more than a hundred barriers to awareness. This episode talks about two of the barriers – sensory conflict and mind drift. We also briefly discuss the process for predicting future events. Length: 53 minutes Click the YouTube icon
Sensory Conflict and Mind Drift – A reading from the Smart Worker’s book (Episode 321) Read More »
Have you ever been around someone who takes twenty minutes to tell a five-minute story? What does that do to you? I know what it does to me. It lowers my vigilance (i.e., the amount of attention I am channeling to them), it can cause me to become frustrated, bored, tune them out and find
The Impact of Oversharing on Situational Awareness Read More »
I’d like to thank one of the loyal Situational Awareness Matters readers (whose name and department I am holding in confidence) for sending me a picture and a story about a van fire, no, a ‘routine van fire‘ his department had recently. On the arrival of the engine, the officer reported a working fire and
It’s Only A Vehicle Fire! Read More »
In this article, we discuss three types of stress: Acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress. First responders can, and often do, experience all three. Stress can impact firefighter situational awareness and, equally concerning, stress can have devastating long-term impacts. As I was writing this article I recalled various times during my thirty years
Three types of stress Read More »
If you are a student of near-miss and casualty reports then you know, without a doubt, that flawed communications are a major contributing factor when things go wrong and flawed communications are often a factor when the quality of situational awareness erodes. In fact, flawed communication was the second most frequently cited barrier to flawed
19 Ways Communications Barriers Can Impact Situational Awareness Read More »
