Samatters Radio

Emergency services provide an invaluable service to communities and cities around the world. Research has shown these professionals encounter significant acute psychological stress throughout their work shifts. Acute stress has been shown to impact human performance in various realms, from increased risk-taking to cognitive decline. While the actual work varies between firefighters, law enforcement, and emergency medical services, a shared commonality is the operation of emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicle crashes are recognized as a serious issue by FEMA. The current work aimed to measure the impact of acute stress on emergency responders as measured by fatal emergency vehicle crashes in the United States using a new variable: the type of call to which they were responding.   Utilizing data maintained by the United States Fire Administration, the study reviewed fatality data of firefighters who died in the line of duty from 2000 to 2019. Deaths from vehicle crashes while responding to emergency incidents w

This interview is with Bob Bemis, a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper who was struck and severely injured while attending to a vehicle fire on I-81 in eastern Pennsylvania.

This interview is with Magnum Bower, a heavy duty tow truck operator who survived being struck on a roadway incident, resulting in him becoming a quadriplegic.  

Eugene-Springfield crews were dispatched to a report of a residential fire with multiple callers confirming a residential dwelling fire.  As the officer on the first-in engine was conducting his primary size-up from the front seat of the engine, a gunman opened fire on the engine, striking it several times.  Firefighters were already advancing lines on the fire.  They were also shot.  This story is told from the perspective of the first-responding battalion chief.   Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio   Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/   The SAMatters Show is the longest running, fastest growin

Eugene-Springfield crews were dispatched to a report of a residential fire with multiple callers confirming a residential dwelling fire.  As the officer on the first-in engine was conducting his primary size-up from the front seat of the engine, a gunman opened fire on the engine, striking it several times.  Firefighters were already advancing lines on the fire.  They were also shot.  This story is told from the perspective of the first-responding battalion chief.       Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio   Jared Alden contact information: jalden77@yahoo.com   Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/ T

Merry Christmas everyone! I know everyone’s feeling particularly festive this time of year and ole Santa is feeling the situational awareness love. Surely, you’ve heard of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” – You know – Partridge in a Pear Tree and all that other stuff that no one really needs or wants, perhaps with the exception of five golden rings, of course. (Whisper) Just don’t wear them all at once. And you know that Santa has good situational awareness. He’s ALWAYS capturing clues and cues about good little girls and boys. And in the spirit of Christmas, ole Santa would like to share with you his list for how to develop and maintain strong situational awareness. Of course, like any child at Christmas, this list could be much longer than 12 items. So I encourage you to go back through the archives and read some of the more than 400 articles on the Situational Awareness Matters! And… they’re all FREE… that’s Santa’s gift to you!      Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (offic

Lieutenant Alden is a paramedic and operations officer for the Akron (OH) Fire Department. He has 17+ years of experience as a firefighter and 15 + years as a paramedic. He is also a member of the SWAT Tactical Medic program. Alden has a master of arts degree in applied behavioral sciences from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a baccalaureate degree in sociology/criminology from Urbana University in Ohio. He served as an instructor in sociology at the University of Akron for six years.   In this interview, Lieutenant Alden helps us to understand how easy it is for homemade explosives to be made.  He shares important information about blast effects and helps us understand how blast Injuries occur, how to identify assess and treat them.  He also shares information about the Lethal Triad of Trauma and discusses the role law enforcement plays in assisting with patient treatments.   Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAM

Lieutenant Alden is a paramedic and operations officer for the Akron (OH) Fire Department. He has 17+ years of experience as a firefighter and 15 + years as a paramedic. He is also a member of the SWAT Tactical Medic program. Alden has a master of arts degree in applied behavioral sciences from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a baccalaureate degree in sociology/criminology from Urbana University in Ohio. He served as an instructor in sociology at the University of Akron for six years.   In this interview, Lieutenant Alden helps us to understand how easy it is for homemade explosives to be made.  He shares important information about blast effects and helps us understand how blast Injuries occur, how to identify assess and treat them.  He also shares information about the Lethal Triad of Trauma and discusses the role law enforcement plays in assisting with patient treatments.   Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAM

John Gonzalez is a past District Chief of Toms River Fire District 1 in Ocean County, NJ and has been an active volunteer firefighter for over 30 years.  Chief Gonzalez served as a fire officer for 15 years, including 6 at Chief level for one of the largest all volunteer departments in the state of New Jersey.  Additionally, Chief Gonzalez served as a Deputy Fire Coordinator in the Toms River Office of Emergency Management for 4 years.    Prior to joining Florian ReApparatus, he worked full-time in the insurance industry for nearly 25 years, most recently in the Special Investigation Unit of a Fortune 100 Property & Casualty Insurance carrier.    Chief Gonzalez is an active member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and has successfully completed the Chief Officer Leadership Symposium levels I & II.  Currently, Chief Gonzalez holds the National TIM Training Certificate and is working towards attaining the National Traffic Incident Management Technician Certification.          Contact us  

On September 4, Grayhawk bass player, Darin Wall, stopped a potential mass shooting by preventing a man from gaining entry into a private party at an event where the band had played earlier in the evening.  Wall thought the man was acting strange, so he confronted him.  The man pulled a gun and in the scuffle, Wall was shot in the leg.  The man was quickly apprehended and, in his back pack, were several other guns and drum clips. Darin has participated in several media interviews, but this was to be his first full-length retelling of the event.

Stan Mettinger was setting up a training scenario that involved setting vehicles on fire.  He was using diesel fuel to ignite hay inside the vehicle when the vapors flashed and set Stan on fire resulting in first, second and third degree burns.

On May 26, 2021, Monte Fronk, native American and Emergency Manager for the Mille Lacs Bank of Ojibwe received the most unimaginable news a father could receive. His daughter had been violently murdered. This episode, dedicated to Monte’s daughter, Nada, chronicles the events surrounding her murder, the fire department’s response and the traditions of our spiritual journey.  Monte closes with tips and advice for first responders on how we can reduce the impact of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

On May 26, 2021, Monte Fronk, native American and Emergency Manager for the Mille Lacs Bank of Ojibwe received the most unimaginable news a father could receive. His daughter had been violently murdered. This episode, dedicated to Monte’s daughter, Nada, chronicles the events surrounding her murder, the fire department’s response and the traditions of our spiritual journey.  Monte closes with tips and advice for first responders on how we can reduce the impact of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).  

In the early days of decision making research, most of the studies were conducted in college classrooms and laboratories. These settings were nothing like the high-risk, high-consequence environments faced by public safety providers. Nonetheless, the traditional decision making process does have its place and we’ll discuss where.   Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/   The SAMatters Show is the longest running, fastest growing, safety focused weekly program on the Internet. If you know a company that might be interested in advertising their product or service t

Under the best of conditions there can be miscommunications. When you add stress, uncertainty, changing conditions, and risk, communications can become very challenging. The first level of developing situational awareness is capturing the clues and cues from the environment. This includes capturing verbal clues and cues from dispatchers and responders. To miss radio communications is to miss clues and cues.   Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/   The SAMatters Show is the longest running, fastest growing, safety focused weekly program on the Internet. If you kn

Challenges to a decision maker’s situational awareness from issues related to staffing were among the most significant findings from my research. I can make this bold statement for several reasons. First, from the multiple card sort exercise, forty‑three percent of the cards selected by commanders were for issues that related to staffing. Second, when I evaluated existing studies on the barriers that challenge situational awareness, in no other high-risk, high-consequence decision making environment were decision makers impacted from issues related to staffing. Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System

Flawed situational awareness (SA) is one of the leading contributing factors to first responder near-miss and casualty events. In fact, it is nearly impossible to find a line-of-duty death investigation report that does not implicate flawed SA, or one of the barriers that flaw SA, as contributing to the tragedy. As often as flawed SA is implicated it almost seems tragic how little first responders actually know about how to develop and maintain it, how they lose it, and how they regain it if they do lose it. This episode focuses some aspects of the first two, developing and maintaining SA. Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Firefight

Your highest level of situational awareness is formed when you are able to make accurate predictions about future events. In neuroscience, this is called projection and it simply means you are able to predict, or project, the future events. This is accomplished through mental models you develop that are founded in your training and experience.   Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/   The SAMatters Show is the longest running, fastest growing, safety focused weekly program on the Internet. If you know a company that might be interested in advertising their produc

Your highest level of situational awareness is formed when you are able to make accurate predictions about future events. In neuroscience, this is called projection and it simply means you are able to predict, or project, the future events. This is accomplished through mental models you develop that are founded in your training and experience.   Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/   The SAMatters Show is the longest running, fastest growing, safety focused weekly program on the Internet. If you know a company that might be interested in advertising their produc

Complacency is a dangerous affliction and a very challenging barrier to situational awareness for workers in high-risk environments. When a worker becomes complacent they let their guard down. What does that mean? It’s a cliché – to let your guard down. It means the worker is no longer paying attention to the dangerous environment they are in. Contact us   www.SAMatters.com   www.RichGasaway.com   612-548-4424 (office)   Let’s Get connected   Facebook: Follow SAMatters LinkedIn: Follow Rich Gasaway Twitter: Follow Rich Gasaway Instagram: Follow SA_Matters Youtube: Subscribe to SAMattersTV Itunes: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Stitcher Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Google Play: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio iHeart Radio: Subscribe to SAMatters Radio Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/   The SAMatters Show is the longest running, fastest growing, safety focused weekly program on the Internet. If you know a company that might be interested in advertising their product