This discussion includes the four steps in the progression of competency: Step 1: Unconscious incompetence – being unaware of what you do not know. Step 2: Conscious incompetence – being aware of how much you do not know. Step 3: Conscious competence – being aware of how much you know. Step 4: Unconscious competence – being unaware of how much you know. You will also be introduced to the Dunning-Kruger Effect. In 1999, two professors at Cornell University conducted a series of experiments and pu...
Oct 27, 2015•21 min
One of the essential components of well-developed situational awareness is being able to accurately predict the future. This prediction should be made during the initial scene size up and then it should be updated often as the incident progresses. In this episode, the need to begin with the end in mind will be explored and tips will be provided for how to improve outcome predictions. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records S...
Oct 20, 2015•19 min
As it relates to first responders operating in emergency situations, their behaviors can be classified into one of two categories: Desired and undesired. Desired behaviors are those rooted in safety and best practices. Hopefully these are the behaviors taught during basic training and reinforced during on-going training and promoted during emergency responses. Undesired behaviors are those rooted in unsafe behaviors and practices. These can be taught in training or can develop over time as a res...
Oct 13, 2015•16 min
The Ontario Fire Service Critical Incident Initiative was formed when training officers in the province realized that, armed with accurate and timely information about critical incidents, they could use this data to drive training to improve firefighter safety. Currently in the province there is no formal agency whose charge is to capture and share this information with the fire service. While investigations have been completed on many critical incidents, assess to the data has been difficult as...
Oct 06, 2015•1 hr 15 min
Today’s guest is Shawn Rafferty, and expert on how to help people be more aware of their surroundings and how to prevent themselves from become a victim of violent acts. In light of recent events where members of the first responder community have been targeted for acts of violence, I thought this would be a great topic to discuss. However, since it’s not, explicitly, my area of knowledge (personal protection), I brought in the expert. Shawn Rafferty’s background includes having worked as a: U.S...
Sep 29, 2015•42 min
In this episode, I discuss how to create thinking firefighters and share powerful examples of how our training may be a set-up for failure not because of poor instruction. Rather, because instructors have not been taught the art and science of decision making on the drill ground. The focus is nearly always in the action of firefighting without consideration for the decision making that should precede the action. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Withou...
Sep 22, 2015•30 min
The latest Book from Ryan Pennington, Hoarder Homes: Pile of Hazards for Firefighters is a culmination of three years of research into fires that occur inside homes filled with large amounts of belongings. Compulsive Hoarding Disorder is a psychological mental condition that affects between 2-5% of adults. With the number of afflicted growing so is the chances of firefighters having to deal with this issue. The book covers: · Introduction to Compulsive Hoarding Disorder · Dangers faced by firefi...
Sep 15, 2015•56 min
Some of the least appreciated members of the emergency response team are the communications specialists (in some venues, termed dispatchers). How do I know this? First, I served as a communications specialist (my job title was dispatcher) early in my career and I was routinely subjected to criticism and ridicule from responders because the information I shared with them wasn’t always accurate – like I was giving them misinformation on purpose. Second, in my situational awareness classes I often ...
Sep 08, 2015•26 min
This episode is a recording on an interview conducted by Adam Farrar, Fire Chief in Wadesville, Indiana. Chief Farrar’s department hosted a full-day SAMatters Tour stop in August which was the third time Chief Farrar had attended a program. Inspired by the message, Adam decided to write a research paper on the topic for one of his college classes and interviewed Dr. Gasaway on the origins of SAMatters, the definition of SA and the top 10 most challenging SA barriers. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire Mi...
Sep 01, 2015•56 min
Simply stated, the stressed brain does not function the same as the non-stressed brain and for first responders, that’s a BIG DEAL… because the environments we work in are often flooded with stress. Stress changes brain function and these changes can have some very desirable… and some VERY undesirable impacts on your ability to develop and maintain situational awareness and in your ability to make decisions. This episode is going to explore some of the impacts of stress on SA and decision making...
Aug 25, 2015•30 min
You’ve heard the saying that a person learns more from their mistakes than they do from the things to do right. This is true in life and in firefighting. But there is a place and time to allow failure and this episode is dedicated to explaining how to build failure into your training evolutions. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records Situational Awareness Matters! website www.SAMatters.com Firefighter Near Miss Reporting Sy...
Aug 18, 2015•27 min
During the Mental Management of Emergencies program we talk about the process of how to develop and maintain situational awareness. And then, we talk about how to use situational awareness as the foundation for decision making. Discussions revolve around how we train first responders which requires training both cognitive and kinesthetic skills (i.e., information and muscle movement). Stated another way, teaching the WHAT and WHY (cognitive) and the HOW (kinesthetic). However, on the drill groun...
Aug 11, 2015•32 min
Lieutenant Todd Budd, at the time of his close call event was serving as the acting officer on Brownsburg ladder company 131. They were dispatched to assist a neighboring community for a working building fire. The call came in after midnight and their on-duty crew of four responded along with a battalion chief. Lt. Budd was the officer of the quint. While responding, information was relayed to the crew (from one of their off-duty officers who was at the scene in an unofficial capacity) that the ...
Aug 04, 2015•1 hr 12 min
In this episode Dave Dodson shares how he created the Art of Reading Smoke program that has become a must-attend program for all firefighters. He also discusses his latest project – his recently released Art of Reading Buildings book that he co-authored with John Mittendorf. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records Guest Contact Information Dave Dodson DaveDodson@q.com Situational Awareness Matters! website www.SAMatters.com ...
Jul 28, 2015•45 min
Situational awareness starts with capturing clues and cues in your environment (perception) and then understanding what those clues and cues mean (comprehension). At a structure fire the process of capturing information should involve a complete 360-degree size-up of the scene. Many departments have policies that stipulate the completion of a 360-degree size up. Yet, for some reason, it’s not always done. This episode provides an explanation why that might happen and how to fix the problem. Our ...
Jul 21, 2015•13 min
Deputy Chief Nick Miller was first-in on a residential trailer home fire that resulted in two close calls. The first occurred when Miller’s SCBA was running out of air and he did not hear the alarm. The second occurred when a captain and recruit firefighter were over run by heat and had to bail out a window to survive. Lessons learned included: The need for teamwork and crew coordination. The need to ensure communications are heard and understood. The need to coordinate incident activities and p...
Jul 14, 2015•55 min
The episode addresses five questions asked during SAMatters live Tour events, including: You've shared many of the challenges we face as first responders when our brains gets stressed. Are there any good things that come from our reaction to stress? You talked a lot in the program about identifying and understanding the critical clues and cues during size-up. I'm a newer firefighter. Is there anything I can do to get better at this skill? Do you have any advice for how a young officer can develo...
Jul 07, 2015•27 min
What can you learn from someone who has survived close call? The answer is… A LOT. When I launched this show in April 2014, the purpose was, as it remains, to help first responders improve situational awareness and decision making while operating in high stress, high consequence environments. This mission has been supplemented by the real-life experiences of close call survivors, sharing INCREDIBLE stories about how they nearly died and, in some cases, how their comrades did die. This episode re...
Jun 30, 2015•27 min
One of the essential components of well-developed situational awareness is being able to accurately predict the future. This prediction should be made during the initial scene size up and then it should be updated often as the incident progresses. In this episode we discuss the need to begin with the end in mind will be explored and tips will be provided for how to improve outcome predictions. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin...
Jun 23, 2015•20 min
On this episode we discuss how to make decisions in dynamically changing environments and the importance of using situational awareness as the foundation for making good decisions under stress. It is the decisions that first responders make, while operating in high stress, high consequence, time compressed environments (using situational awareness) that drive successful or unsuccessful outcomes. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virg...
Jun 16, 2015•28 min
Individuals impacted by tachypsychia have described it as having the appearance that time is elongated, giving the appearance that events are moving slower than reality. The opposite has also been described, where it appears time is speeding up, sometimes moving so fast that things appeared blurred. In this episode we will also review a near-miss event where rapidly changing conditions at an apartment building fire put firefighters in a dangerous position. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.c...
Jun 09, 2015•40 min
The tones drop for an apartment building fire. On the way, dispatch is advising multiple calls, confirming a working fire and the possibility of people trapped. The mind of the officer on the aerial platform is busy processing – thinking – anticipating – what will need to be done upon arrival? Of course, truck work is on the officer’s mind: Forcible entry; search and rescue; ventilation. The officer takes a deep breath and smiles. It’s going to be a good day. That is… until the officer gets over...
Jun 02, 2015•19 min
On June 30, 2008 an intense wind driven blaze destroyed a apartment building in Speedway, Indiana. As crews arrives on the scene a large column of smoke filling the sky from the building located along I-465 just north of Hollister Drive. The fire started around 3:21 pm and quickly spread as high winds from the north pushed the fire further into the building. Lieutenant Jeff Cheshire, then serving as a firefighter on Engine 202 recounts how his crew got over run by rapidly changing fire condition...
May 26, 2015•1 hr 3 min
It is amazing how many articles and videos I have watched lately in which they are talking about decision making based on “gut feel.” It is also disheartening how many first responders I have interviewed who have admitted to me that they have dismissed their gut feelings and proceeded to do things that resulted in bad outcomes. Let’s explore the origins of intuition. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records Situational Awaren...
May 19, 2015•17 min
In this episode, Cypress Creek Lieutenant Jason Corthell shares his close call survival story where he was operating on the second floor of an exterior stairwell at an apartment building fire. The stairwell, not involved in fire at all, unexpectedly collapsed, trapping Lieutenant Corthell and District Chief Sanchez under tons of steel and concrete. A mayday was called and a rapid intervention crew was able to remove the debris and successful rescue the two firefighters. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire...
May 12, 2015•52 min
In this episode, Dr. Richard B. Gasaway responds to five listener questions. Tune in as he shares the answers and provides some best practices for developing and maintaining strong situational awareness while working in high-risk, high consequence environments. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records Situational Awareness Matters! website www.SAMatters.com Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss...
May 05, 2015•21 min
On May 12, 2012, Atascocita Volunteer Fire Captain Brian Mulligan and his crew responded to a reported gas leak that resulted in a very close call. If the circumstances were just slightly different, Brian could have been severely burned or electrocuted. Yes, at a gas leak call he almost got electrocuted! Listen in and learn how it happened and the valuable lessons Brian and his department took away from this event, including: The need to always be vigilant and, if it is possible, to expect the u...
Apr 28, 2015•50 min
In this episode, I interview Andover (MN) Fire Chief Jerry Streich on the value of having a safety officer assigned during training evolutions. Chief Streich took part in a pilot program for the League of Minnesota Cities (his department’s insurance provided) in an effort to reduce training-related injuries. The program has now been in place for two years and the Andover Fire Department has not had a single training-related injury in that time. This is impressive. Chief Streich discusses how the...
Apr 21, 2015•34 min
On Sunday March 29 Fire Captain Pete Dern was leading his crew across the roof to provide ventilation for the safety of attack crews when a catastrophic collapse dropped him into the inferno. Fellow Firefighters rescued him within minutes but he suffered 65-75 percent second and third degree burns across his body. Following the incident a video of the event quickly made its way across mainstream media and social media. I was encouraged by the outpouring of support. I was also repulsed by the num...
Apr 14, 2015•21 min
Peter Schenk has a wide and varied background. He has worked as a firefighter and a police officer. And he served 32 years with Northwest Airlines prior to their acquisition by Delta Airlines. Peter was involved in the early stages of development of the cockpit resource management systems (CRM), now known as Crew Resource Management. This program is widely credited for reducing aviation accidents by taking proactive steps to address human error and improve communications and teamwork. Our sponso...
Apr 07, 2015•53 min
