By Dale Stewart, REACTION Company

Situational Awareness (SA) is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to your team with regards to the mission at hand. More simply, it's knowing what is going on around you. First responders routinely face dangerous environments and situations, ones ranging from natural disasters, fires, to terrorist attacks. Successfully conducting operations in these environments requires rigorous training, the right technology, strong incident command, decision-making skills, and an appropriately managed flow of information.

Responders at an emergency scene need answers to questions: Where am I? What do we know? What don't we know? What hazards exist? Where are other responders located in relationship to my location? Where are the victims? How many?

The hope is that by providing appropriate and timely answers to these kinds of questions, first responders will be better prepared to respond to and manage emergencies. In fact by answering these questions the first responder is assessing and updating his own Situational Awareness.

The other side of the SA coin is how team members become confused by conditions, events or their own perceptions. When you lose SA you increase the potential for human error mishaps. This loss of SA almost always occurs over a period of time and leaves a trail of clues. You and your team members should always be alert for clues that warn of lost or diminished Situational Awareness and include:

• Confusion - Disorder within the team or a gut feeling that things are not right. This clue is one of the most reliable because the body is able to detect stimulus long before you have consciously put it together.

• Use of Improper Procedures - This puts the individual or team in a gray area where no one may be able to predict outcomes with any certainty.

• Departure from Regulations - You are operating in an unknown area where the consequences of your actions cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty.

• Unresolved Discrepancies - When two or more pieces of information do not agree, you must continue to search for information until the discrepancy is resolved.

• Ambiguity - When information you need is confusing or unclear, you must clarify to fill in the missing pieces before proceeding.

• Fixation - When a team member fixates on one task or becomes preoccupied with work or personal matters, they lose the ability to detect other important information. The best way to identify these clues is by knowing the behavior of your team members and being alert to changes. Preoccupation with personal matters can also lead to changes in performance. The Two-Challenge Rule works effectively to help detect fixation in a team member. If the team member fails to adequately respond to two or more challenges regarding omissions or questionable actions, the individual is assumed to have lost SA and action is required. Apply this rule in daily operations as well.

Your ability to maintain SA occurs through effective communications and a
combination of a number of actions. One of these actions involves the ability to
recognize and make others aware when the team deviates from standard procedures.

When deviations are noted, comment in specific, assertive terms. Be alert for changes
in the performance of other team members caused by work overload, stress, errors,
etc. When changes are noted, take action by speaking up.

Another action relates to information. Don't wait to be asked. When you have information critical to team performance, speak up!  Effective communications may be the most important factor in achieving and maintaining SA. To ensure a Shared Mental Model (SMM), speak up
and verbalize any intended action. Understand that the level of SA achieved is related
to the level and quality of communication observed in team members. Effective team
leaders plan ahead and communicate the plan to team members. This helps ensure
that everyone is aware of the plan and builds a SMM of the situation.

Understand that clear expectations lead to a SMM of the situation and ensures high levels of SA by all team members. Psychology studies have shown that one of the keys to human
teamwork is the ability of teammates to anticipate the needs of others and proactively
take appropriate action using an overlapping shared mental model. There are a
number of barriers to Situational Awareness that you and your team must become
aware of. These barriers reduce your ability to understand the situation. Recognizing
these barriers and taking corrective action is the responsibility of all team members. The most common barriers include:

• Perception based on faulty information processing. Perception is our mental picture of reality. The amount and quality of information available limit all pictures of our current operational state. Insufficient information makes it difficult to ensure that our mental picture is always aligned with reality. Our mental picture is affected by:  Past Experiences: We act on information based on our knowledge. When something looks similar to what we are familiar with, we may react as if it were the same. Expectations: We interpret information in such a way that it affirms the planned action. Filters: We are provided with information, but we don't use it. We don't pay attention to information that doesn't match our mental picture.

• Excessive Motivation is a behavior that imposes expectations and filters that affect our ability to fully assess the situation and any safety risks. It includes, but is not limited to, "GET HOME-itis" and an overriding sense of mission importance.

• Complacency is assuming everything is under control and affects vigilance. When things are slow, tasks routine, and/or objectives have been achieved, complacency can occur. Challenging yourself and/or the team to be prepared for contingencies (e.g. planning or training) can deter complacency.

• Overload causes distraction; fixation; increased errors, and high stress. Prioritizing and delegating tasks and minimizing job distractions can improve safety in conditions of overload.

• Fatigue affects vigilance. Adjusting work routine and imposing sleep discipline to prevent wake cycles longer than 18 hours and permit at least 5 and preferably 8 hours per day of sound sleep can minimize sleep deprivation.

The large amount of information that must be processed by teams and the many interactions within and between teams provide a breeding ground for human error. Human error is a common occurrence and should always be expected. There are three levels of human error that you need to understand.

The first of these are SLIPS. Slips are the incorrect sending of information or miscommunication. Often well-formed habits take over and we make a slip. These slips may seem insignificant, but they are a visual or auditory form of human error. Corrective action is to inform the individual of the slip, regardless of rank.

The next level of human error is MISTAKES. Mistakes are almost always failures in planning. Mistakes have to do with the selection of objectives and the time required to achieve them. Corrective action is to question the plan during the brief and performing through double checks.

The third level is ERRORS. Errors are flawed execution; incorrect actions based on either correct or incorrect information. Errors, because they are defined as actions, are the most serious form of human error.  Corrective action requires the team to be alert at all time to errors and use assertive communications to alert others to the problem. Trapping slips, mistakes, and errors is the key mechanism to avoiding mishaps. Human error can occur at anytime. The earlier it enters the process and the longer it goes undetected, the less effective the team will be and the greater the potential for mishaps to occur. Regulations are implemented to help control some known errors, but regulations and standard operating procedures are not fail-safe mechanisms.

Team members must be able to identify all levels of human error and be empowered by command to take corrective action! Judgment is the process that produces a thoughtful, considered decision. In other words, it is the ability to perceive a situation and make a decision. Good decisions equal good judgment; poor decisions equal poor judgment. Judgment determines team actions in a given situation and depends on information that team members have about themselves, their unit, and the environment they are working in. In performing the mission, many judgments are made. This series of judgments is called a judgment chain. Poor judgments may be the outcome of applying erroneous information or using an ineffective decision-making strategy. If an ‘up stream’ judgment is flawed, it can affect the other ones ‘down stream’. “Garbage In = Garbage Out." When individuals exercise poor judgment and are not aware of it:

Reality is Distorted. They are lulled into a misperception of reality. They rationalize why things are happening using this reality as fact.

False information is Perpetuated. They often create false information that they use to make future judgments. The probability is high that these judgments will be flawed.

Fewer Alternatives seem Acceptable. As more poor judgments or false information is added to the chain, the seemingly available alternatives for solving problems narrow. The best approach to breaking poor judgment chains is by taking a structured approach to decision-making. This allows the prevention of poor judgment chains from forming or growing. This approach includes a step to evaluate judgments. To be effective this step has three parts:

• Always seek feedback and point out errors.
• Assess stress level within your team.
• Manage resulting risk.

For any poor judgment chain to be broken, team leaders and members must recognize that they are human. Be open to the possibility that you can make poor judgments. Be willing to admit and correct errors. Situational awareness is dynamic, hard to maintain, and easy to lose. Knowing what is going on all the time is very difficult for any one person, especially during complex high stress operation, such as those following a major event. Therefore it is important that you know what behavior is effective in keeping us situationally aware. The following actions can help a team retain or regain situational awareness.

• Be alert for deviations from standard operating procedures.
• Watch for changes in the performance of other team members.
• Be proactive, provide information in advance.
• Identify problems in a timely manner.
• Show you are aware of what’s going on around you.
• Communicate effectively.
• Keep abreast of the mission status.
• Continually assess and reassess the situation.
• Ensure that all expectations are shared for complete awareness by the whole team.

Dale Stewart is known worldwide for his experience in identifying, reducing and managing risk associated with disasters. He has been there, done it, and survived to tell tales and teach lessons learned. He is founder and Managing Partner of REACTION Company and leads a team of experts who teach their skills to men and women with a vested interest in the public safety of our citizens. His presentations are full of energy, high content, and high impact. Clients and audiences appreciate his unique philosophy and common sense approach on difficult topics. Dale may be reached at dstewart@reactioncompany.com