On the Bleeding Edge of Change - Dr. Richard B. Gasaway blogs about the changes that the fire service faces.
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Groundbreaking research reveals link between golfing and firefighter safety
By Dr. Richard Gasaway - Monday July 4, 2011
Could playing golf improve your fireground situational awareness? One study seems to suggest so. While playing golf with his son, a neuroscience researcher began to contemplate the nexus between what it takes to achieve success on the golf course and how that might apply to firefighters. After all, the principles of situational awareness should be universal, he hypothesized. What would this look like? Based on previous research he had conducted with firefighters, he already knew that situational awareness was developed and maintained on three levels: Level 1: Capture the most critical clues and cues (not ALL… just the most critical ones). Level 2: Process those clues and cues (perhaps melded together with some less... -
On the value of having a personal mission statement
By Dr. Richard Gasaway - Sunday May 29, 2011
The best way to predict your future is to create it. It has been proven over and over again that we move in the direction of our most dominate thoughts. If those thoughts are of pessimism and failure, we will behave in pessimistic ways and drift in the direction of failure. Our mental voice compels our actions. >Conversely, if our thoughts are of optimism and success, we will behave in optimistic ways and be compelled in the direction of success. Think about the inner voice that is driving your thoughts… and actions. Like it or not, you have become exactly what you tell yourself you are. I doubt many successful people see themselves as failures. Likewise, there probably aren’t very many failures who see themselves as... -
A look in the mirror
By Dr. Richard Gasaway - Sunday May 15, 2011I often facilitate discussions on leadership traits in my programs. During these discussions we talk about the qualities of the best and worst leaders we've ever worked with and for. It's interesting that the classes almost always talk about the other person and not themselves when they're talking about the undesirable qualities and talk about themselves when they are identifying the best qualities. Why do we do this? One explanation is we are far more comfortable to talk about our positive attributes. Another might be we are blind to our shortcomings or in denial that we actually display the qualities that are undesirable. But... here's a hint... we DO have some of those qualities and the best way to become a better leader is... -
A Personnel Size-Up Helps Situation Awareness
By Dr. Richard Gasaway - Thursday February 18, 2010
The issue of understaffing is a hot topic these days. Staffing reductions are one of the impacts of our struggling economy. On a number of occasions I have discussed this topic – mostly from the perspective of budgets and politics. Now, it’s time to look at the stark reality of how staffing can impact the situation awareness of commanders. In my book on Fireground Command Decision Making , I discuss one of the most surprising findings of my research – how significant the impact of staffing is on command situation awareness. One of the essential tasks of a commander at any emergency scene is to conduct a size-up. Commanders are taught to look at things like building size/type, construction material/features... -
Habits… can save your life… or take your life.
By Dr. Richard Gasaway - Monday February 15, 2010When you are under stress your brain and muscles will engage, automatically and perform just as they were trained to do without conscious thought. If you develop good training habits through repetitive muscle movements and repetitive thoughts, they will reside in your subconscious brain and under stress your performance will predictably follow the directions from your subconscious brain. Think about how you train. If it is realistic and repetitive, you are preparing your brain and your body to perform actions that may require a split-second reaction. Building life-saving skills into cognitive (brain) and motor (muscle) memory allows you to react quickly in high-stress, time-compressed situations, saving the precious time. Your training...
