Jun 20, 2014
In episode 2, I spoke a little bit about complacency. The feedback was awesome, thank you everyone for that.
1. In this episode I will continue on that topic and share a how a false alarm mindset can lead to complacency.
2. In the near-miss report we will share an incident where complacency caused a firefighter to fall through a weakened floor at a residential dwelling fire.
3. And in the question/answer segment, we will explore why the “Blind Search” drill may be a set-up for failure and consequence.
FEATURE TOPIC
Another False Alarm: A Tale of Complacency
Complacency is a big deal for
first responders because it impacts your situational awareness on
multiple levels. I would like to give every responder the benefit
of the doubt that if or when they have found him or herself being
complacent that it was not happening on purpose. In other words, I
hope every responder desires to be diligent and alert. Yet,
complacency still gets us. I recently had an up close and personal
experience with this that I’d like to share.
If you follow my Twitter or Facebook updates you know this: I travel. A lot. I am sort of living my own version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles (except I am not sharing my bed with John Candy. Nuf said).
The popularity of the Mental Management of Emergencies and Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder Program (as part of the “Get in the Loop” Tour) keeps me nomadic about 200 days of the year. Trust me, that is not a complaint. I absolutely love sharing my message with first responders. Even more, I love the feedback that the message is making a difference. For that, I thank you very much.
Recently on one of my trips I was startled awake at 2:53am by a fire alarm activation. The alarm only rang about 10 seconds. Knowing what I know about night clerks at hotels, I suspected the alarm had been prematurely silenced. My suspicion was confirmed when I went to the lobby and heard the clerk on the telephone telling someone the alarm panel is indicating the fire pump is running. I was the only patron of the hotel who came to the lobby.
Another False Alarm
As the building was sprinklered and there was no smoke in the lobby, I poured a cup of coffee to see how all of this was going to play out in part. I was partly curious and partly angry that the clerk silenced the alarm without investigating the source.
Then, the fire department arrived. Three firefighters dismounted the engine and entered the lobby and my disappointment with the situation rose to an entirely new level. Every member of the crew had the flaps on their coats open, no helmets, no SCBA, no tools, no water can, no TIC (which, in all fairness they may not have had on that apparatus). They were no more prepared to fight a fire than I would have been if I came down to the lobby wearing Nomex boxer briefs.
And where were all the other guests? Surely I was not the only person who heard the alarm. But I was probably the only person in the hotel to have witnessed night clerks silencing alarms to avoid disrupting the slumbering guests.
The Triple Whammy of Complacency
There were three examples of complacency witnessed in a span of ten minutes.
Complacent Act #1: The night clerk was complacent for silencing the alarm too quickly, assuming the activation to be another false alarm.
Complacent Act #2: The patrons of the hotel only heard an alarm that lasted ten seconds, leading them to assume the alarms were just another false alarm.
Complacent Act #3: The fire department responded to the alarm with their guard down. Way down. I could tell by their movement, demeanor, comments and attire. For them, this was another false alarm.
I did not sleep well during what was left of my night. As I lay there I imagined how the outcome of this seemingly benign event could have been tragically different if only a few circumstances were different.
A Culture of Complacency
Whose job is it to create and nurture a culture that prohibits complacency? Is it the senior management, training officers, company officers or individual firefighters? I would say it is the job of everyone because no one is exempt from the potential consequences. It is evident to me that a complacent co-worker may be more dangerous than any broken piece of equipment on your apparatus. Equipment problems are easy to fix. Repair or replace. But when co-workers have complacent mindsets it can be much more challenging to repair or replace.
The Non-Complacent Fire Alarm Response
Contrast this to a similar experience I had during a visit to another fire department a few months ago. During that visit there was also a fire alarm activation in my hotel during the night (This may seem like an odd stroke of bad luck, but keep in mind I spend hundreds of nights in a hotel room). My observations here, however, were VERY different.
These firefighters came off the truck with a “working fire” mindset. No complacency to be found here. It was all business. Full gear, SCBA, tools, water, flashlights & TIC. Just as it should be. Kudos to this fire department for setting a great example.
Coincidentally, the hotel clerk did not silence the alarm and the lobby was full of patrons. I suspect that has much to do with the fire marshal of this particular department being proactive and educating the desk clerks on how to handle alarm activations.
Advice
The problem with complacency is it can creep into how the members of your department do things in a sneaky, almost unnoticeable away. That is, unnoticeable until some nerdy retired firefighter turned cognitive neuroresearcher happens to be hanging out in the lobby of your hotel when you have a fire alarm. He notices.
If your mindset leads to believe you are responding to just another fire alarm, then your guard will be down. Not only can this cause you to be physically ill-prepared for the potential of the call, it can also cause you to be mentally ill-prepared for the potential dangers the call holds. Early in my career I was taught to prepare and respond to every call with the mindset that what I will find the worst-case scenario situation and then to get into the mental mindset to be ready for it.
Ironically, as I have so often talked about in my articles, the repetition of physical and mental preparation for the worst case scenario builds both cognitive and muscle memory. This means my mental and physical preparation that all responses held the high-potential of risk… would become a habit – my automatic scripted, subconscious performance under stress. This would pay off for me, in spades, throughout my career and it will for you too.
Conversely, if the mindset becomes one of complacency. It is just another fire alarm triggers the mind and the body behaves accordingly. In this state of low arousal the senses neither capture nor comprehend clues and cues that can form situational awareness. Being on-guard helps improve situational awareness.
During my research I interviewed a commander who responded to just another fire alarm to a building they had been to numerous times in the past. His mindset was one of complacency. Arrive and reset the alarm was his mindset. But this time, it was a working fire with people trapped. He described the impact vividly. For those with my Fireground Command Decision Making book, you know I wrote about this incident and the impact it had on this officer.
This commander admitted having a very difficult time recovering from his complacent mindset and getting geared up for the task he was facing. His crew was also complacent, just another fire alarm, mindset which compounded the problem.
Respond to every call for service as if it holds the potential to cause you great harm. Be vigilant in your capturing of clues and cues and understanding what they mean. No responder ever goes to a call thinking it is going to be their last. But many catastrophic outcomes result from complacent mindsets.
Discussions
1. Discuss a time when you were complacent on a call and the potential impact it could have had on you or other responders.
2. Discuss some specific strategies you use to avoid complacency as a first responder.
3. Discuss some strategies that can be used to help others over the affection of complacency.
4. Discuss with co-workers how you can help each other avoid complacent mindsets.
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS NEAR MISS LESSON LEARNED
This lesson comes to us from the Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System, where lessons learned become lessons applied.
We were dispatched to a structure fire at a tri-level style home with a well-involved fire on the lower level. Upon completing a 360, it was noted that the fire was auto exposing to the second floor and attic space. Once the body of the fire was knocked down, my partner and I proceeded to the second floor to check for exposure. I entered a room and was walking toward the window when the floor gave way, causing me to drop into the room of origin. My partner called a mayday and, after regaining my composure, I notified command that I was OK and in verbal and sight contact with my partner and proceeded out of the structure.
LESSONS LEARNED
The biggest lesson learned was we had become complacent. Training… and reinforcing… that training is also important. Always be aware of the situation and surroundings.
Why is it so easy for the reporter of this incident to see his errors after the fact, yet not in the moment. This is the nature of flawed situational awareness… the inability to see the bad things coming… in time to change bad outcomes. Even though this firefighter was not seriously injured, the outcome could have been catastrophic. Anytime fire is burning below where firefighters are operating, the structure is weakening. Heat causes structural components to decompose.
As they decompose they weaken. All the while, the enemy of every building – gravity – is trying to kill the building by pushing down on it with a constant force. If gravity had its way, every building would be flattened. But it does not because the components of construction hold the building up against the forces of gravity. Fire-weakened structures are no match for the downward force of gravity. Add the weight of contents and firefighters and you are able to forecast the outcome, which is Level 3 situational awareness.
You can visit them at www.FirefighterNearMiss.com
If you have experienced or witnessed a near miss and would like to be interviewed on this show, visit my companion site:
Click on the contact us link. Thank you, in advance, for sharing your lessons learned so others may live.
INFORMATION
If you are interested in attending a live event, you can check out the Situational Awareness Matters Tour Stop schedule at: SAMatters.com. Click on the Program and Keynotes tab just below the header. Then click on the Events Schedule tab. If I am in your area, I hope you will consider attending a live event.
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Just click on the link below the header on the SAMatters home page titled On-Line Academy.
SAMatters COMMUNITY Question
This question comes from an attendee of a Mental Management of Emergencies class in Ventura County, California.
QUESTION: If sending firefighters into a training scenario with a blacked out facepiece is training for failure, tell us why and what should we do to fix the problem?
ANSWER: The failure does not come from training firefighters to operate in a zero visibility conditions. In fact, that's an essential skill for firefighters. The failure comes from blacking out facepieces and sending firefighters IN to training fires.
As you understand how the brain learns, the solution becomes easier to comprehend. When conditions rapidly go to zero visibility with the presence of high heat, the firefighters are in pre-flashover conditions. We do not want firefighters continuing on the mission of search or fire attack in the presence of flashover conditions. We want them to leave the environment. But many do not.
They stay true to the mission and forge onward. This is because they were trained to do that. The fix, in a nutshell, is to send firefighters into training situations with good visibility. Then at some point blacken out the facepieces and teach them how to get out. This small change is enough to shift the mindset from one of being true to a mission of going inward and onward to one of getting out - survival!
CLOSING
Well, that is it. Episode 8 is complete. Thank you for sharing some of your valuable time with me today. I sincerely appreciate your support of my mission.
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Be safe out there. May the peace of the Lord, and strong situational awareness, be with you always.
** Post Closing Message
You have been listening to the Situational Awareness Matters Radio show with Dr. Richard B. Gasaway. If you are interested in learning more about situational awareness, human factors and decision making under stress, visit SAMatters.com. If you are interested in booking Dr. Gasaway for an upcoming event, visit his personal website at RichGasaway.com
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