Program Description

TARGET AUDIENCE

The initial program will be targeted at supervisors, managers and coordinators in organisations. Eventually the program will be developed for individual unit on the ground up to multi-team supervisors.

PROGRAM AIM

The aim of the program is to focus on training how to think and what to think about rather than what to think. These are the characteristics identified in individuals considered to be proficient or expert thinkers. By including deliberate practice, ATTM ensures that commanders become comfortable with the approach. The situations can and will change but someone trained to ‘think on their feet’ will be able to handle complex and dynamic situations with greater ease.

DELIVERY METHODS

Flexible delivery that utilises face to face, computer and distance learning methods can be adapted to suit the needs of the students and organisation. Three options for delivery of this program are;

  1. Face to face in a classroom environment with a facilitator / coach who interacts with the group on the completion of a scenario
  2. Distance; where the student completes the scenario completes their responses to the scenario then forwarded to the mentor / coach who supplies feedback via electronic medium.
  3. Virtual classroom with the students and facilitator interacting real time via video conferencing.
METHODOLOGY

Scenarios will be developed using a problem-based learning (PBL) methodology. Brief scenarios will be presented to the learner in the form of a narrated and animated presentation. The scenario sets up a situation that represents events in various conditions. When the learner completes a scenario they are asked to write down what they consider added to their decision making. Each scenario will be more complex than the last allowing the learner to practice the new thinking skills. A key component to PBL and ATTM is feedback. Learners will be provided with two types of feedback; first they compare their thinking to a subject matter expert (SME) and the second is feedback from a facilitator. The feedback provided allows the learner to apply the new skills on the next scenario and evaluate their progress.

The ten thinking themes and a brief description are:

  1. Risk & Safety: Continually doing a dynamic risk assessment is paramount to the safety and success of combating an incident. Safety of all at the incident is the responsibility of those in charge. All the decisions made need to have a safety built in.
  2. Keep a Focus on the Objective: Never lose sight of the purpose and results they are directed to achieve, even when unusual and critical events may draw them in a different direction.
  3. Incident Behaviour: The fact that the incident can change sporadically; it’s tempting to simplify the incident treating it as a static or simply reactive to models and theories.
  4. Consider Effects of the Environment: Never lose sight of the operational effects of the terrain on which they must combat the incident every combination of terrain and weather has a significant effect on what can and should be done to accomplish the objective as well as its effects on the incident.
  5. Use All Assets Available: Knowing what, where and availability of all resources, this includes not only all assets under your control, but also those resources that others might bring to assist you.
  6. Consider Timing: Greater understanding of the time available to them to get things done as well as a good sense of how much time it takes to accomplish various tasks and the proper use of that sense is vital.
  7. See the Big Picture: Always remain aware of what is happening around the incident and how it might affect operations.
  8. Visualise the incident: Be able to visualise a fluid and dynamic incident ground. Being able to develop this skill can reason proactively like no other.
  9. Consider Contingencies and Remain Flexible: Having flexible plans and well thought out contingencies that will result in rapid, effective responses under pressure.
  10. Know Limits of yourself and others: Know the abilities of yourself and those who you may place in a command/control position. A good commander knows when there span of control is at its limit and requires attention.

©Incident Management & Education 2014