SAM 068 | Teaching Decision Making

SAMatters Radio

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 another way, teaching the WHAT and WHY (cognitive) and the HOW (kinesthetic).

However, on the drill ground, some instructors bypass the cognitive and focus almost entirely on the kinesthetic. It is easy to understand why this happens, with the majority of explanations revolving around limited (precious) time on the drill ground.

That is understandable. But it’s not acceptable. For teaching decision making does not add substantial time to hands-on evolutions, so long as the instructor has spent some time in the classroom teaching the foundations of decision making. The drill ground becomes the closest thing to real-life practice that a firefighter/officer can experience. Teaching decision making, in the context of the real environment, is a critical skill that MUST be practiced.

This episode is dedicated to how to teach decision making in real-world context.

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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

[e-mail]

612-548-4424