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Staying Safe During COVID-19 Using Situational Awareness
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused worldwide disruption and damage, from a social, economic and political perspective. There is no denying this, not to mention the physical toll it has taken on individuals and their families, many of whom have lost loved ones courtesy of the virus.
Many reading this will be well aware of the protective measures and recommendations by the government, to minimise the spread and protect others.
Now that the second national lockdown has ended and the country has returned to the tiered system of coronavirus restrictions, we still cannot afford to ignore this advice. This is why we must consider our situational awareness in every circumstance we find ourselves in during and after this lockdown, as we should always have been.
How to Stay Safe from Coronavirus
Situation awareness means always being mindful of what is currently happening around you. Knowing how to increase situational awareness involves our pre-existing knowledge, to determine and anticipate what happens next.
Perceiving different elements or triggers in your environment helps you develop an enhanced sense of situational awareness. This, in turn, enables you to decide what to do, and how to respond, at any given time.
Situational awareness is as relevant to us as it is for front-line healthcare workers, emergency first responders, anyone working in the UK Armed Forces, law enforcement, government and everyone across almost any area of business.
COVID-19 Situational Awareness
Coronavirus can spread on surfaces and in the air, like any viral infection. Although the majority of people will only get mildly ill from COVID-19, some vulnerable people, such as those with pre-existing health conditions, are at a higher risk of contracting and getting seriously ill.
If you are deemed high risk or are classed as clinically vulnerable, then you should follow the government’s advice to protect yourself. However, even if you are not high risk, that does not mean you should ignore similar advice. Just because you are lower risk does not mean you are immune from passing the virus to someone else.
Even if you have made a recovery from contacting coronavirus, or have been treated with antibodies, it’s still vital to protect yourself and others. While we may be a significant step closer to seeing these impending vaccines, we cannot afford to ignore the advice we’ve been told to follow to minimise the spread.
Every situation calls upon being smart and prepared to use the concepts of situational awareness.
How to Protect Yourself Using Situational Awareness
While the government advice recommends we work from home if we can, wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and face coverings, really there is more we can do to minimise our (and others’) exposure to COVID-19. Using real-time situational awareness and adopting proactive decision-making techniques, we can stay mentally and physically prepared.
Principles of Situational Awareness
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Perception
Perceiving the status, dynamics and attributes of elements within an environment, so you become aware of people, objects or events in a specific volume of time and space.
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Comprehension
Understanding what those elements in Stage 1 mean. In other words, conducting situation assessments (collect, analyse and interpret) on these elements and make critical decisions after establishing a clear mental picture of what will happen.
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Projection
Projecting the status (or future status) of these elements, allowing you to extrapolate the information you’ve gathered from Stage 1 and 2, thus understanding how the factors will affect the operational environment.
Situational awareness activities and concepts were taught to us as news began flooding in on the COVID-19 virus. We’ve been told to make sound assessments of situations and be smart, sensible and proactive so we could minimise contact with others, thereby reducing everyone’s exposure to the virus. It’s come at a cost for millions of people. However, even in these constantly-changing and challenging times, we still must ensure we are situationally aware as possible to stay safe and make effective decisions.
Take first responders for example; they have to make crucial decisions in terms of people, physical surroundings and environment every time they are called to an incident. Same with Close Protection Officers, who have to consider the same elements every time they are required to step in.
Good assessments of situations help us to avoid making dangerous or critical mistakes. At ATR, we are specialist training providers in first aid, surveillance, security, travel awareness and personal safety.
Enhance Your Situational Awareness
We incorporate concepts of situational awareness to help delegates understand and respond in every situation more effectively. We tailor these concepts to their particular training course to help them gain a better understanding of how to assess and respond to incidents, therefore maximising safety.
guardian travel - 3-day Hostile Environment Awareness Training
guardian training - Security Awareness Fragile Environments
guardian training - Close Protection
guardian travel - 3-day Hostile Environment Awareness Training
guardian training - Trauma First Aid
Situational Awareness Experts
Speak to ATR about how we can help you understand situation awareness more effectively.