What process involves assessing the complex and dynamic environment around you during a fire incident?

Situational awareness is the process that focuses on the ability to perceive, comprehend, and anticipate critical elements of the environment surrounding a fire incident. This concept involves actively gathering information about conditions, potential hazards, and changes occurring in real-time, allowing fire officers and responders to make informed decisions and respond effectively.

In the context of fire incidents, situational awareness helps personnel recognize the risks posed by the fire environment, such as fire spread, structural integrity, and the presence of hazardous materials. It also enables individuals to assess the behavior of the fire, track personnel movements, and be aware of the situation's dynamics. By maintaining a high level of situational awareness, fire officers can improve safety for themselves and their team and the effectiveness of their response strategy.

While situational assessment, incident evaluation, and risk assessment have their places in emergency management and incident command, they are more focused aspects that support the broader concept of situational awareness. Situational assessment may refer to gathering specific data at a point in time, incident evaluation looks at the effectiveness of the actions taken post-incident, and risk assessment generally pertains to evaluating potential hazards and their impacts, often in a more static manner.