How Do I Obtain Situational Awareness?

Situational awareness is gained through a process and a developed intentional mindset.

• Develop a thought process by determining what information is needed, why it is needed, and when it is needed.
• Determine accurate, reliable, and timely sources of information
• Continue monitoring the situation as it unfolds and consider current and future impact based on updated information gained
• Carefully weigh options and consider the outcomes, pros, and cons
• Frequent practice is vital for developing a mindset that continues the cycle of gathering updates and reliable information.
• We must be aware that no two situations are the same, and every environment provides unique conditions that will challenge your thoughts, decisions, and responses.
• Once we determine what information we need, then we must determine the best possible sources of information. We precede knowing it must be accurate, reliable, and timely.

Perhaps an example using the COVID-19 and how I gained situational awareness might provide you with insights that illustrate my thought process for moving forward during the crisis.

Remember I have a background in emergency management. I worked for months in the Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center during the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic and thus have more insight than most people.

I know people around the country that are still working in emergency management, I reached out to them for preliminary current insights. Emergency Operations Center personnel is not available to everyone. Yet we all have a network of people who are more informed than we might be. Ask, who do I know that could keep me up to speed as they gain situational awareness. It should be noted that the process we are discussing is the same that Emergency Operation Centers, News Outlets, Health Departments are gathering on an ongoing basis from the moment alerted about the incident or event.

I bought into the process right away, realizing that COVID-19 could impact me, my family, or others I care about in negative and potentially fatal ways.

• I plugged in online to CDC, WHO, and John Hoskins University websites and bookmarked them for future reference.
• I choose to track news channels CNN and occasionally FOX News
• During any type of crisis, we need to as quickly as possible determine who the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are and follow them in any way possible.
• We track the information as it becomes available. We need to know about the severity, scope, proximity, as in the case of a pandemic, origin, and how the virus is spread.
• To reiterate, this is an ongoing process throughout the duration of the incident or event.
• Now granted, this requires a great deal of effort and time, but obtaining sufficient situational awareness is essential for making the best-informed decision and response possible.
• Consider the fact that to date, the United States and other nations around the world, still do not have a sufficient level of situational awareness about COVID-19, even though people have been at it virtually 24/7 since February 2020.
• In the end, you must determine what you need to know, how and where you will get what you need to know and then what will you do with that knowledge.

Actions that increase your Situational Awareness:

Earlier I mentioned that situational awareness is a state of mindfulness. It is a state of gathering information, processing it to become more aware of a static or unfolding event (s) or incident(s). 

We should be aware/mindful and fully present where ever we might be.

Our situational awareness is increased by intentional actions such as:

• Eliminating distractions, as much as possible
• Seeking to broaden your field of vision
• Always scanning and re-scanning your environment
• Using your senses
• Pay attention to your intuition
• Being aware of the locations of exits (where ever. you might be, all the time)
• Notice useful items in the area as well as potentially hazardous locations
• Physical distancing and proximity to others
• Visualization
• Speak up and share observations with others

The list above is not exhaustive but should give you an idea of how we can become intentional in our desire to increase our situational awareness.