Samatters Radio

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 her to miss seeing, or hearing, important clues and cues.   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

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 be in turnout gear. Some said the commander should not be in turnout gear. And some displayed the typical (and expected) distain for management and saying the chiefs should just stay in their offices. Editorial comments lacking maturity aside, the question of whether an incident commander should wear turnout gear is one I field often during my Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder program so I thought I'd take the matter up here.  Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records   Cover Photo: John Buckman Chief Photographer WildFire Studios   Situational

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 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

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 Resilience Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com References for this episode Baker, D.P., Day, R., & Salas, E. (2006). Teamwork as an essential component of high-reliability organizations. Health Serv Res. Aug;41(4 Pt 2):1576-98. McKeon, L.M., Oswaks, J.D., & Cunningham P.D. (2006). Safeguarding patients: complexity science, high reliability organizations, and implications for team training in healthcare. Clin Nurse Spec. Nov-Dec;20(6):298-304; quiz 305-6. Roberts, K.H. & Rousseau, D,M. (1989). Research in nearly failure-free, high-reliability organizations: having the bubble. IEEE Trans Engin Mana

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 challenging to develop and maintain. 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

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 making and behavior. How to keep from getting caught off-guard when you arrive at a working incident How a firefighter (non-officer) can develop and maintain situational awareness. County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service Recruitment Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NsafQaRPA . The County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service is comprised of several different stations at different levels. We have 2 full time staffed stations which cover the regions of the County of Grande Prairie which immediately surround the City of Grande Prairie. These 2 stations are composite (combination staffing) and typical

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 as he chronicles how the firefighters were able to remove the victims but then almost became victims themselves. Lessons learned included: Don’t allow yourself it get into a situational you are not adequately trained and prepared to handle.  Don't wear bunker pants while performing a water rescue. Don't let emotions drive your decision making.  Only used trained responders for water rescue evolutions.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Guest Information Tiger Schmittendorf Deputy Fire Coordinator Erie County Emergency Services 716-777-0205 Tiger@TigerSchmittendorf.com TrainYourReplacement.com   Intr

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. Martens was driven to improve the life safety of his crew members and other responders with a mission to revolutionize the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks that they perform regularly. His company was launched in March of 2014 and provides complete systems and relevant services to equip agencies with various aircraft, training, and delivery platforms. Martens received a Bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State University in Organizational Leadership and a minor in Emergency Services.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Guest Information John Martens NMotion UAS 316-804-8149 620-217-6031 john@nmotionuas.com P.

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:   Knowing the buildings in your town – both construction and layout.   Building mutual trust with your company.   Realizing when you’re in an environment where victims are not savable.   Keeping a big picture focus.   Decide. Act! (no hesitation).   Trusting your guy.   Understanding the characteristics of a high-energy (pre-flashover) fire environment.   Tim Kohlbeck,Biography: Tim Kohlbeck is serving in his his 26th year with the City of Sheboygan (WI) Fire Department. He was hired in 1990 and currently serves the city as a Captain and is assigned to Rescue 3, the city’s heavy rescue unit.   Tim is trai

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 year in rehabilitation therapy, having to learn how to walk again. Listen as he recounts the events as they unfolded, what he was thinking as he laid there under the pile of debris, not sure if anyone even knew he was there, how his faith changed following the incident and his painful road to recovery.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Guest Information Assistant Chief Morris Lentz Rogersville Volunteer Fire Department MorrisTLentz@bellsouth.net   Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records   Situational Awareness Matters! website www.SAMatters.com   Firefighter Near Miss Reporting

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 Dunning-Kruger Effect. In 1999, two professors at Cornell University conducted a series of experiments and published their findings in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. What they uncovered is a cognitive bias where unskilled people suffer from the illusion of having superior skills and knowledge.     Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Spectrum Aeromed Spectrum-Aeromed.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

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: 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

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 in unsafe behaviors and practices.  These can be taught in training or can develop over time as a result of drifting away from best practices. Behaviors are encouraged or discouraged with reinforcement. Reinforcement can be positive (i.e., providing something desirable or withholding something undesired) or negative (i.e., withholding something desired or providing something undesired). Behaviors (both positive and negative) are influenced by reinforcement (both positive and negative). Let me provide you with a few examples of how these concepts marry up. Positive reinforcement of desired behavior: A first responder

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 investigations have been completed on many critical incidents, assess to the data has been difficult as Provincial agencies have been slow to share the findings with the fire service. Not only can this lead to frustration, it can also lead to misinformation being shared. And while the training officers of Ontario can access and use near-miss and line-of-duty death reports from the United States, it is their belief that while there may be some similarities, there are just as likely some unique aspects about critical fire incidents in the Province. However, absent the access to data, they cannot confirm their suspicions a

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 (personal protection), I brought in the expert. Shawn Rafferty’s background includes having worked as a: U.S. Marine Corrections officer Police officer Force protection officer Security consultant Protective security specialist Martial arts instructor Firearms instructor Federal agent Shawn is married with 2 children. Son is 8 years old and daughter is 20 months old. His wife is from Malaysia and is a Major in the active Army National Guard. Currently they reside in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas while his wife attends the Command General Staff College.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (1982

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 precede the action. 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

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 this issue.   The book covers: ·        Introduction to Compulsive Hoarding Disorder ·        Dangers faced by firefighters ·        Identifying and Pre-Planning hoarding ·        Introduced to a new name for hoarding ·        Offensive Fire attack ·        Defensive attack ·        Searching in Hoarding conditions ·        Overhauling ·        Special additional chapter covers EMS response in Hoarding Conditions. Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records   Guest contact information: Ryan Pennington Jumpseatviews@iCloud.com   Situational Awareness

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 – like I was giving them misinformation on purpose.   Second, in my situational awareness classes I often hear the same criticism of communications specialists I endured almost 30 years ago. I would like to offer some perspective on communications specialists and the critical role they can play in forming and maintaining situational awareness for responders. 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 Ga

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 SAMatters, the definition of SA and the top 10 most challenging SA barriers. 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

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 decisions. This episode is going to explore some of the impacts of stress on SA and decision making. 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