Chapter 10: Human Factors Flashcards
Chapter 10: Human Factors p140
Commanders in the middle of complex and stressful situations have reported a literal loss of focus. Described as being like LCD projector that gets bumped making the image on the screen no longer clear and sharp. What factors can contribute to this barrier? 2
- Your brain is working really hard to make sense what’s going on around you and deeply wired instincts of the brain are tuned at paying attention to stimuli that are moving, bright, loud, and in close proximity. You pay attention to the cues and clues in your environment that your brain perceives is most threatening. As your brain focuses on them it can tune out some or all of the other clues and cues in your environment. This may give the appearance you’re losing focus because your brain is working hard to keep focused on what it perceives to be life-threatening stimuli.
- Also brain has limited capacity to capture and comprehend data. When your brain is taking in fast-moving rapidly changing cues that can figuratively speaking stall… Or I can drop cues as new stimuli come in before it’s fully made sense of the old stimuli it captured before, giving you the sense that you’re losing focus.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 140-142
How do commanders experience auditory loss of focus in complex and stressful situations?
Similar to your brain having limited capacity to capture and comprehend visual stimuli. The same is true of audio stimuli.
While the sound may be “heard” through the anatomy of your ear, its then coded into electrical signals which is ent sent to your visual process so a visual image of the message can be formed.
If that processor is busy, you may not hear the message (auditory exclusion) or it can be distorted audio signal.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 142
What is role ambiguity?
Lack of clearly defined and communicated operational directives, strategies, and tactics which can contribute to a loss of focus.
Someone needs to ensure there is a common understanding of purpose, roles, and goals.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 143
First responders rarely operate in an environment where there is complete and accurate information. A certain amount of assumption is necessary. What separates good assumptions
Assumptions that are based in part on your emergency service education, your training, and your experiences as a first responder. But they are also colored strongly by your beliefs and biases. This is especially true in the absence of strong evidence.
Assumptions should be validated by seeking facts that uphold the assumption. Think of this is a mental validation for accuracy prior to committing to action
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 144
Where in the brain do many assumptions come from
The subconscious brain, outsider conscious awareness
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 145
What is Colin Powell’s method of gathering facts and data in the process of making military decisions?
He noted his goal was to gather 40 to 70% of the facts and then draw on his intuition and experience to fill in the rest and make a decision.
Good rule of thumb for first responders
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 145
How to first responders fall victim to confirmation bias?
When responders on scene of an incident they have experienced many times before they can be lured into a false sense that this incident is like all the others where the circumstances have been similar.
Similar but not exactly the same. This is where overconfidence a becomes situational awareness barrier.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 145
When responding to an event that is similar to other emergency incidences preloading may occur. What is meant by the author when he says incident commanders can preload an incident?
What can that cause?
Commanders can preload facts and data into their mental model based on previous experiences and not the current emergency scene.
When they arrived on scene responders may not develop situational awareness using the actual facts includes present, rather there situational awareness is based upon assumed facts driven by overconfidence, derived from previous experiences all done prior to arriving at the emergency scene.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 146
Why is confidence a balancing act?
Too much confidence will lead you to assume that you know the scenario prior to arriving on scene because you’ve done it a thousand times. That confidence is dangerous.
However absent complete facts responders must have the confidence that the information that they have been able to gather during their brief rapid size up is accurate enough to formulate an action plan that will not get someone hurt or killed. Must have the confidence to make decisions without all the facts.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 146
How can ego adversely impact first responder situational awareness and decision-making
If a plan is put into action but the plan is either fallen or based on conditions that have changed rendering the plan obsolete.
Inflated egos may find it difficult to admit mistakes, or acknowledge their failures. They may stay on course of an action plan that is not headed toward a positive outcome. Even though they can see their plan is not working they convince themselves and stick with it for just a few more minutes..
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 148
How can someone be addicted to being right?
A neurological response is released when a test subject answers that question correctly resulting in a mini rush. Some researchers have hypothesized that people can become addicted to this chemical and thus must always feel they are right in order to get a rush.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 148
What is a the Goldilocks of confidence in a commander?
A competent commander can be good. And under confident commander can be dangerous. An overconfident commander can be deadly.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 149
How can your perception affect your situational awareness?
Everyone has perceptions of reality. For everyone their perception is their reality. However simply because they perceive something as real doesn’t make it so.
Filters allow people to see what they want to see and avoid seeing things they don’t. On the scene of emergency responders have different perspectives that can lead to differences in views of what’s happening.
This can lead to very different beliefs and opinions about the best plan of action.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 150
How can culture be a significant barrier to good decision-making?
Culture either arising from crews who are the self anointed best of the best and extremely overaggressive.
Cultures that don’t permit a reassessment of the scene and keep crews inside too long during what should be the defensive fire.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 152
How can the pressure to conform with the culture of the department affect the commander’s decision on scene?
Commanders who know that anything but super aggressive firefighting is touted as weakness may be less willing to pull firefighters from a structure to go defensive.
