SAMatters Radio

This Q&A session addresses three questions from recent live situational awareness programs. Much of the inspiration for the blog posts come from participant questions but this may be the first podcast episode dedicated to questions asked during live events. The three questions we address include: What can I do to improve my intuition? What can I do as first responders to combat information overloa...

The phrase "Perfect Storm" is used to describe a combination of unpredictable circumstances that cause drastic outcomes. The term is also used to describe circumstances that occur so infrequently that they are thought to be unpredictable and thus, perhaps, unpreventable. The term can also sometimes be used to describe the worst-case scenario of a potential, not yet experienced, event.   Our sponso...

I get asked a lot of questions 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 first arriving company officer assume a "working command" or "mo...

In this interview with Chief Lohr, we discuss how he is working to change a culture and to improve safety for the members of the Hagerstown Fire Department. Listen in as he shares important messages about safety complacency, culture, situational awareness, politics and succession planning. This episode will also be available a video on the SAMattersTV YouTube. Youtube.com/SAMattersTV   Our sponsor...

The process by which situational awareness is formed begins withusing your five senses (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting andsmelling) to gather information from your environment. That mayarguably be the easiest part of the situational awarenessdevelopmental process so long as you are "paying attention" to yourenvironment. Once the senses gather information, it converts itinto an electrical code t...

Interview questions discussed included: While conducting live burn evolutions fire instructors are bound by NFPA 1403 for safety reasons. And while fire instructors do not want to jeopardize the safety of the students (or fellow instructors), how can we incorporate fire dynamics demonstrations to show students what to expect, versus just lecturing students about dynamics? How can fire dynamics be...

On November 14, 2014, Indianapolis Captain (then Lieutenant) Eric Dreiman was assigned on Ladder 19. His station was dispatched at 1159 hours to a reported residential dwelling fire on Holly Avenue, about a half mile from the station. On arrival the crew had heavy fire showing on the rear of the house and one occupant who had escaped reporting that her son was still inside. Dreiman, along with Fir...

On November 14, 2014, Indianapolis Captain (then Lieutenant) Eric Dreiman was assigned on Ladder 19. His station was dispatched at 1159 hours to a reported residential dwelling fire on Holly Avenue, about a half mile from the station. On arrival the crew had heavy fire showing on the rear of the house and one occupant who had escaped reporting that her son was still inside. Dreiman, along with Fir...

In my efforts to research and share what causes issues with situational awareness I have uncovered over 100… what I call… Barriers. These barriers impact a person’s ability to develop and maintain situational awareness. In this episode I am going to explore the challenges of staffing as a barrier to situational awareness by sharing excerpts of interviews I conducted with expert-level fireground co...

Captain Ryan Cox, Fire Apparatus Operator Tom Reel, Firefighter Jay McManigal and Firefighter John Alvey share the details of a close call during a routine truck check when Ladder 7 came into contact with a 33 kV transmission line on January 2, 2016. If circumstances were just slightly different, this incident could have resulted in multiple firefighter fatalities.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire Midw...

Very few podcasters make it this far… to their 100th episode. When you consider that each episode takes 2-3 hours of script writing, recording, editing, arranging and interviewing guests, that’s quite an investment of time. The mission of Situational Awareness Matters is to help you see the bad things coming… in time to avoid bad outcomes.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music...

Greg Yost has served as a firefighter in Hancock, Maryland for more than 30 years. He has been an advocate for improving responder safety on highways incidents for many years. On June 21, 2014 Greg’s daughter, Daniele, was involved in a vehicle accident where the investigation determined that she was distracted while driving. As a result, her vehicle drifted left of center and struck another vehic...

It is a widely held belief that the best decisions are made without the interference of emotions. Economists and statisticians alike stand fast to this belief – the best decisions are made with using pure logic. Facts and formulas lead to the most rational decisions. But do they? Image for a moment if the emotional control center of a person’s brain were removed. Would that person then make better...

The precursor to situational awareness is situational readiness, which I define as: Having the ability to anticipate what things need to be in place to be well-prepared for an emergency response; and then, taking the steps necessary to ensure the right things are done, in advance of the actual response, to be properly prepared. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (...

This episode was inspired by an email from a listener wanted to know if an officer’s administrative duties, assignments, tasks and workload can impact on situational awareness. 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://w...

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 discuss how peer pressure can be beneficial and detrimental to first responder safety. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (1982) M...

Your brain is awesome at capturing, processing, storing and recalling information. But it has limitations, especially when it comes to memory under stress. There are four steps in the process of developing a memory: Encoding, storage, retrieval and forgetting. The process is quite complex. Perhaps I'll dedicate a future chapter to walking readers through the complete process of memory formation. B...

To think being safe and being aggressive cannot coexist is to believe that responders must sacrifice safety if/when they choose to be aggressive. Or, when responders choose to do things safely, they can no longer be aggressive. In truth, safety and aggressiveness can be accomplished simultaneously. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - V...

The San Francisco Fire Department conducted an internal review of the incident and issued a 156-page report on their findings. Many of the lessons relate to situational awareness and it is from that perspective that I would like to share my assessment on several of their findings. I dedicate this podcast to the lives of Lieutenant Vincent Perez and firefighter/paramedic Anthony M. Valerio and I ap...

Good or bad, we all have habits. On an emergency scene good habits can save your life and bad habits can result of tragic consequences. So it stands to reason that you would want to form good habits and avoid bad habits, right? But you can form bad habits and not be aware of it.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records   Si...

If you are the type of person who can work on your notebook, listen to music on your iPod, talk on your cell phone and text message at the same time, (maybe all while driving) this episode is for you. Advances in technology have given us more opportunities to multitask than any other time in the history of humankind. We are bombarded with visual and audible stimulation, most of which is at our fin...

While attempting to command an understaffed incident scene, the attention of the company officer or the incident commander can be narrowly focused on what is causing him or her the greatest stress. In the case of understaffing, the safety of personnel operating in the hazardous conditions can be a huge stressor. If this happens, it may cause a responder to narrow their attention and cause him or h...

I recently read with great interest a very long thread on Facebook about whether or not an incident commander should wear turnout gear at a fire scene. As my focus and passion is improving first responder situational awareness, I would like to address this issue from that perspective. The feedback on Facebook was, as expected, all over the place with some participants saying the commander should b...

If I were to tell you that on an emergency scene it is possible for you to use X-Ray vision, you'd probably think I've been watching too many Superman movies. But it is possible for you to look right through a solid object on an emergency scene and see what's beyond it. Seriously! This episode will explain how that is possible and why this skill is so vitally important to your safety.   Our sponso...

This episode defines high reliability organizations and looks at the common threads that have emerged in organizations that embrace HRO philosophies. We will look at: Organizational complexity Teamwork How knowledge supersedes rank Communications Accountability Feedback Compressed time constraints Sensitivity to operations Reluctance to simplify Preoccupation with failure Deference to expertise Re...