On this episode I interview retired Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Investigator Steven Hough. Steven was shot three times by a suspect and the return fire mortally wounded the assailant. In this gripping interview, Investigator Hough shares: 1.How his training paid off under the stress of gunfire. 2.How he experienced the Fog of War, and he explains in detail what that means. 3.How he used a combat breathing technique to keep himself calm. 4.Why it is so important to get yourself mentally and physica...
Sep 08, 2014•55 min
I titled this episode: What I learned in two minutes. It is an interview Lieutenant Sean Dolan from the Aurora Fire Department. On January 7, 2013 Sean, then serving as a firefighter on Engine 7 became a close call survivor when he entered a structure fire at 16562 East Asbury Place, a single story residential fire with confirmed people trapped. Sean made entry through the front door with an inch-and-three-quarter line to provide protection for the truck company crew that was searching for the k...
Sep 01, 2014•1 hr 3 min
On this episode I interview Indianapolis Fire Department Chief of Health and Safety, Doug Abernathy. Doug’s career has spanned almost three decades and on February 5, 1992, he had a close call event that, most unfortunately, took the lives of two of his brother firefighters. In this episode, you’ll learn about: 1. Doug’s close call that involved tunnel vision and running out of air on the third floor. 2. How he became disoriented and realized, for the first time in his life, he may die in a fire...
Aug 25, 2014•50 min
This episode is a recording of a near-miss panel discussion held at Fire-Rescue International in Dallas, Texas. The panel, consisting of Chief Josh Waldo (Oakridge, TN), Training Officer Andrew Beck (Mandan, ND) and myself discuss three near events, including: 1.A live training burn near-miss involving the crazing of a facepiece. 2.A haz-mat call near-miss involving a Freon leak. 3.An EMS call near-miss involving a patient with weapons You can visit them at www.FirefighterNearMiss.com If you hav...
Aug 22, 2014•1 hr 26 min
The SAMatters mission is simple… To help you see the bad things coming… in time to avoid bad outcomes. On this episode…. 1. We will look at the hot button issue of first responder fatigue. 2. We will review a near-miss report that emphasizes the importance of having a designated safety officer. 3. And I will discuss a community question that addresses which, among the more than 100 situational awareness barriers, is the most pervasive. Situational Awareness Matters! website www.SAMatters.com On-...
Aug 18, 2014•20 min
The SAMatters mission is simple… To help you see the bad things coming… in time to avoid bad outcomes. On this episode…. 1.We’ll discuss how radio traffic can impact situational awareness. 2.I’ll share a near-miss incident where a firefighter fell through an open crawl space hatch in a floor… left open by other firefighters. 3.Finally, I will answer one of the most often asked questions I receive… what does it cost to host a Situational Awareness Matters Tour Stop Event? Situational Awareness Ma...
Aug 11, 2014•18 min
On this episode I interview Dave Casey, Director of the Louisiana State Fire & Emergency Training Institute on the need for realistic first responder training. During the interview, Dave shared: 1.The need to turn off the PowerPoint, get out of the classroom, and into the field for hands-on training. 2.Some of the challenges associated with electronic learning. 3.The benefits of demonstrating skills during scenario-based evolutions. 4.The need to perform high fidelity training, combining all...
Aug 02, 2014•55 min
Hello and welcome to episode 013 of the Situational Awareness Matters radio show. I am your host, Rich Gasaway. The purpose of this show is to improve situational awareness and decision making for individuals and teams who work in high risk, high consequence environments. The SAMatters mission is simple… To help you see the bad things coming… in time to avoid bad outcomes. EPISODE OUTLINE 1.In the feature segment we’ll talk about training for failure, how it happens and I’ll offer some advice fo...
Jul 25, 2014•24 min
Hello and welcome to episode 12 of the Situational Awareness Matters radio show. I am your host, Rich Gasaway. The purpose of this show is to improve situational awareness and decision making for individuals and teams who work in high risk, high consequence environments. The SAMatters mission is simple… To help you see the bad things coming… in time to avoid bad outcomes. On this episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Alan Predmore, the fire chief in Buckley, Washington. I have had the oppor...
Jul 18, 2014•40 min
On this episode I had the opportunity to tour the Seattle Fire Department training facility and I sat down and talked with Phil Jose, the training chief for the Seattle Fire Department. During the interview, Chief Jose shared some of the things he is focused on to improve the situational awareness and decision making abilities of Seattle firefighters including: 1.Conducting Post Incident Analyses (PIA) of major fire incidents, defined as one that results in a firefighter injury, a civilian fatal...
Jul 11, 2014•1 hr 6 min
On this episode I interview Jack Sullivan, Director of Training for the Responder Safety Institute. The mission of the Institute is to reduce highway incidents involving first responders and to minimize the impact of responders who are involved in these incidents. Our discussion was recorded at the National Volunteer Fire Council Summit in Myrtle Beach where Jack was presenting on highway incident safety and I was presenting program on Thirty deadly situational awareness barriers. Thank you to t...
Jul 10, 2014•41 min
On this episode we walk with Captain John Wright from the Flower Mound (Texas) Fire Department. Captain Wright survived an extremely close call while operating as an interior search crew at a residential dwelling fire. On June 17, 2011 the Flower Mound Fire Department along with several mutual aid companies responded to a residential structure fire. During the incident, Captain Wright and Firefighter Trujillo became overrun by fire on the second floor. The rapidly increasing fire disorientated t...
Jun 27, 2014•1 hr 1 min
In episode 2, I spoke a little bit about complacency. The feedback was awesome, thank you everyone for that. 1. In this episode I will continue on that topic and share a how a false alarm mindset can lead to complacency. 2. In the near-miss report we will share an incident where complacency caused a firefighter to fall through a weakened floor at a residential dwelling fire. 3. And in the question/answer segment, we will explore why the “Blind Search” drill may be a set-up for failure and conseq...
Jun 20, 2014•19 min
On this episode we celebrate the International Fire/EMS Safety and Health Week. My guest is Ryan Pennington, webmaster at Views from the Jumpseat and host of Jumpseat Radio. We are talking about the International Fire and EMS Safety and Health Week and its theme: Train like you fight! INFORMATION If you are interested in attending a live event, you can check out the Situational Awareness Matters Tour Stop schedule at: SAMatters.com . Click on the Program and Keynotes tab just below the header. T...
Jun 16, 2014•51 min
Hello and welcome to episode 7 of the Situational Awareness Matters radio show. I’m your host, Rich Gasaway. The purpose of this show is to improve situational awareness and decision making for individuals and teams who work in high stress, high consequence environments. Our mission is simple… To help you see the bad things coming… in time to prevent bad outcomes. I am broadcasting to you today from my Situational Awareness Matters Get in the Loop Tour Stop in Erwin, Tennessee where I am trainin...
Jun 13, 2014•18 min
On this episode we’ll talk 1. Briefly about the myth of multitasking 2. We’ll listen to an interview I recorded with a wildland firefighting safety officer with 40 years of experience on the line. 1. Developing the mindset of a Just Culture in the wildland firefighting community. 2. Why a culture of compliance won’t work. 3. How age brought wisdom and helped Wayne realize the need for instant gratification was far less important than the goal to bring everyone home in one piece. 4. His view on f...
Jun 06, 2014•56 min
On this episode we’ll talk about… 1. The role of emotions in decision making. 2. I’ll share a report about a first responder who had a near-miss with a chain saw. 3. And we’ll talk about why so few first responders and industrial workers are being taught about situational awareness. FEATURE TOPIC How you decide to do something… or not do something is a complex process that involves multiple brain regions. Are decisions made with the rational brain or the intuitive brain? The answer, surprisingly...
May 30, 2014•16 min
On this episode we’ll talk about… 1. The importance of completing a 360 degree size-up. 2. We’ll share a near-miss event where a combination of inexperience, freelancing, and assumptions led to a loss of accountability. 3. And we’ll address a community member’s question about how to develop expert knowledge in younger officers who are seeing less fires. FEATURE TOPIC Situational awareness starts with capturing clues and cues in your environment. It’s really quite a simple premise. To capture clu...
May 23, 2014•18 min
On this episode we’ll talk about… 1.Positive and negative clues and cues that form situational awareness. 2.We will share a near-miss event where a first responder was nearly run over by a fire department command vehicle. 3.And we will address a dilemma where a listener shares his concern about his department training officer and the seemingly lack of interest in conducting mayday and rapid intervention training because, as the listener writes… He thinks it will never happen here. FEATURE TOPIC ...
May 16, 2014•21 min
On this episode we’ll talk about… 1.Habits, routines and complacency. 2.We will look at a near-miss event where tunnel vision and complacency may have flawed situational awareness. 3.And we will address a question from an SAMatters community member about how to make mayday training more realistic. FEATURE TOPIC We all know we have habits. Some of them are good habits. And some of them are…well… not so good. The less often talked about cousin of a habit is a routine . Habits and routines can defi...
May 09, 2014•24 min
Welcome to the first episode of the Situational Awareness Matters! Radio show. And since this is the first episode I thought it would be appropriate to share with you how the back story of how Situational Awareness Matters got started. You will also be provided with a good working definition for situational awareness and explanation as to why it is so darn important to the process of making good decisions. The focus of this show is to improve situational awareness and decision making… for indivi...
May 02, 2014•18 min
