SAMatters Radio

In this episode we provide a working definition of situational awareness and take the mystery out of how it is developed and maintained by individuals working in high risk, high consequence environments. Specifically, we will discuss: Perception Understanding Prediction Intuition Pattern Matching Tacit Knowledge And we will address some of the reasons why situational awareness can be so challengin...

In this episode we discussed some really important and valuable topics that all firefighters can face, including:   How to maintain control of you own personal situation when you show up on scene of a house fire and find out that it is owned and or occupied by either a family member, loved one, ex partner, friend, etc. The impact that helmet cameras can have on situational awareness, decision maki...

Dispatched to a report of multiple people trapped on the second floor of an apartment building with rising water, Tiger Schmittendorf and two of other members of his department launched their rescue boat and located the victims on in the apartment building. While preparing them for removal the conditions outside changed significantly and the slow moving water became swift moving water. Listen in a...

John Martens is Founder of NMotion UAS, which provides Drone (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) technologies to public safety professionals and emergency management groups. These technologies enable responders to better assess, execute, and mitigate emergencies. As a firefighter, Martens initially discovered the unmanned aircraft industry through a previous company in video production and digital media....

On January 30, 2010, Captain Tim Kohlbeck and Lieutenant Chase Longmiller, assigned to the heavy rescue at Sheboygan Fire Station #1 were dispatched to a structure fire with the possibility of people trapped on the second floor.   They were inside conducting the search when conditions when conditions changed quickly. Their decisive actions saved their lives… barely.   Lessons learned included:   K...

On February 8, 2009, Lieutenant Lentz (now Assistant Chief) was working a residential dwelling fire when a wall unexpectedly collapsed on him. This resulted in multiple critical injuries including multiple fractured vertebrae, a pelvis fracture, a broken leg, multiple rib fractures and a collapsed lung. He was air lifted to Huntsville Hospital and underwent multiple surgeries and spent nearly a ye...

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...

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...

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...

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 inv...

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 (persona...

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 prec...

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 t...

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 – li...

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 SAM...

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...

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 - Virg...

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 anoth...

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 t...

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 Co...

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 alwa...

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...

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 anyt...

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 INCREDIBL...

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...