SAMatters Radio

Latest Episodes:

SAM 140 | Speaking up Dec 27, 2016

Show notes

In this episode, Madison Firefighter Cameron Gasaway shares his observations about why it is so hard for a new firefighter to speak up when they think something is going wrong. We also share a real-life experience Cameron had when he was presented with an opportunity to speak up. In his words, it was one of the worst feelings he'd ever had.

Our sponsor:

Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com

Intro music

Safety Dance (1982)

Men Without Hats

GMC - Virgin Records

Situational Awareness Matters! website

www.SAMatters.com Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy

www.SAMatters.com/academy

Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System

http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 139 | Building expert knowledge Dec 20, 2016

Show notes

The researchers who study expertise have concluded it can take roughly 10,000 hours of training and practice to achieve expert-level knowledge and performance skills. The bad news is, that could take responders over a decade to acquire. The good news is, the process of expertise development can be accelerated.

Our sponsor:

Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com

Intro music

Safety Dance (1982)

Men Without Hats

GMC - Virgin Records

Situational Awareness Matters! website

www.SAMatters.com Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy

www.SAMatters.com/academy

Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System

http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 138 | Nine considerations when evaluating incident command software. Dec 13, 2016

Show notes

As you attend conferences that have vendor display areas, pay attention to how many incident management software vendors claim to have programs that can "develop situational awareness" in first responders. This claim is often founded on the belief that as the software is able to capture, assemble and display layers and layers of data that, somehow, situational awareness will be improved. Be careful, as you may be sold a product that does not do what it claims to do.

Our sponsor:

Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com

Intro music

Safety Dance (1982)

Men Without Hats

GMC - Virgin Records

Situational Awareness Matters! website

www.SAMatters.com Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy

www.SAMatters.com/academy

Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System

http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 137 | Radio Traffic and Situational Awareness Dec 06, 2016

Show notes

When it comes to first responder radio traffic I am reminded of the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You may recall that in the story Goldilocks samples three bowls of porridge. One is too hot. One is too cold. And the third is just right. This lesson applies directly to first responder situational awareness and the role radio communications plays in helping to develop and maintain SA.

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.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 136 | Online Academy Q&A Nov 29, 2016

Show notes

The Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy officially opens its doors in January. SAMatters Radio podcast episode #132 was dedicated to explaining the features of the Academy. This episode is dedicated to questions and answers I've fielded over the past couple of weeks.

Our sponsor:

Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com

Intro music

Safety Dance (1982)

Men Without Hats

GMC - Virgin Records

Situational Awareness Matters!

www.SAMatters.com

Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy

www.SAMatters.com/academy

Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System

http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 135 | Meta-awareness Nov 22, 2016

Show notes

One of the ways to improve your situational awareness is to develop a conscious awareness about your awareness. Developing and maintaining situational awareness can be challenging while operating in high stress conditions. Being aware of this and using techniques to ensure you remain in the moment can improve safety.

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.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 134 | Assessing resources Nov 15, 2016

Show notes

It is important for a commander to have situational awareness about the resources available and to use that knowledge to drive decisions. Setting strategy without consideration to the quantity and quality of resources can be very risky. This episode explores how to develop situational awareness about resource availability.

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.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 133 | The Devil's Advocate Nov 08, 2016

Show notes

One of the problems that can happen while working in high stress, time compressed environments is a person can develop a flawed perception of reality. When this happens, they will not realize it until something happens that allows them to see their perception was flawed. This is where the devil's advocate can help. This episode explains how.

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.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com

Support@RichGasaway.com

612-548-4424

SAM 132 | Online Academy Preview Nov 01, 2016

Show notes

One of the most common pieces of feedback received from live events is "Everyone in my department needed to hear this message." I could not agree more. I realized with this feedback came a challenge to create a convenient, affordable way for every department to train every member. From that inspiration came the Situational Awareness Matters Online Academy.

Our sponsor:

Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com

Intro music

Safety Dance (1982)

Men Without Hats

GMC - Virgin Records

Situational Awareness Matters! website

SAMatters.com Online Academy SAMatters.com/academy/

SAMatters Testimonials

www.richgasaway.com/testimonials/

Contact Rich Gasaway

SAMatters.com/contact/

612-548-4424

SAM 131 | Best practices for managing mental workload Oct 25, 2016

Show notes

The research I have conducted on the neuroscience of situational awareness and high-risk decision making has been fascinating and extremely enlightening to me. Over the past 9 years, it has been very rewarding to take the lessons of research and apply them for the benefit of first responders. For those who have attended one of my programs, you know these lessons are always shared in friendly ways (i.e., avoiding all the heady terminology of brain science).

One of the findings of my research led me to the conclusion that once a commander becomes overloaded and overwhelmed, managing the mental workload can become extremely difficult and meltdowns are predictable. And, much to my dismay, it is quite easy to overload and overwhelm someone who is under stress (e.g., the incident commander).

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.com/

Contact Rich Gasaway

www.RichGasaway.com