When do you lose situational awareness

[Kodiaz]

I lose it at work. I work outside on roofs in attics. After a couple of hours baking in the sun or some attic. I'm usually stop paying attention to everything except where my foot goes next or where in the electrical panel I'm sticking my hands. Sometimes I'll be racking my brains trying to figure out a problem with a unit that customers will startle me.(this happens very rare and when it does it scares the living crap out of me)


I'm not sure if this is a legit question but whenever I go back to normal I think about it and how vulnerable I am in that state.

General dopiness is also one of the first signs of heat exhaustion(dropping stuff too).

 

[lamazza]

Jefferson's tree hasn't been watered or fertilized in a long while

Plenty of fertilizer-maybe its just the cheap stuff though

 

[Jeff White]

Kodiaz,
I wouldn't say that you're losing situational awareness. I think you are concentrating on two very real occupational hazards, falling and electrocution. And unlike a possible unidentified threat, those two are an immediate identified threat.

Fortunately even though you have on occasion been startled by a customer, I don't think that that many attacks occur on rooftops and in attics.

If you are that concerned, why don't you get one of those doorknob alarms they sell to use in hotels? Put it on the access door to where you're working and concentrate on your job, secure in the knowledge that you'll have early warning of someone appraoching you.

Jeff

 

[Jeff White]

Kodiaz,
I wouldn't say that you're losing situational awareness. I think you are concentrating on two very real occupational hazards, falling and electrocution. And unlike a possible unidentified threat, those two are an immediate identified threat.

Fortunately even though you have on occasion been startled by a customer, I don't think that that many attacks occur on rooftops and in attics.

If you are that concerned, why don't you get one of those doorknob alarms they sell to use in hotels? Put it on the access door to where you're working and concentrate on your job, secure in the knowledge that you'll have early warning of someone appraoching you.

Jeff

 

[Kodiaz]

Oh no the problem isn't when I'm in attacks it's for the first ten minuted after I'm out in a parking lot when I'm still out of it. That's when I feel a little vulnerable. This I've been working in the trade for 13 years now I've never been assaulted in any way. This is just a time when I'm not fully aware of what's going on around me.

I've also never put my foot through a ceiling.

I don't think this happens to everyone. I think the particulars of heat, discomfort and a high level of concentration add up to make it so I'm sleep walking for a couple of minutes between jobs(calls).

I don't think this will happen to a good portion of people but I'm pretty sure we have a couple of other tradesmen that that have been in the same situation.

One time I grabbed a live wire 3 times in a row right in front of my boss.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch what the hell."

"What are you doing" Fearless leader (If your a good boss this is your title)

"Man this wire has the most static electricity ever" Me

"Are you nuts the disconnect is on thats 277" Fearless leader

"Oh crap. Ok time to get a drink of water"

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Kodiaz, I think you've hit on it - you and your co-workers have jobs that require extreme focus for extended periods of time. And given that you've been doing this for 13 years, you've acquired certain "tools" along the way that enable you to concentrate. The vulnerability you are feeling is in that "dead zone" (no pun intended) that operates as a buffer between activities - sometime it lasts for a couple of minutes, other times as much as an hour or two. Basically, you're "decompressing" or "transitioning" - because now you have to shift to using a different kind of focus or part of the brain.

Personally, I don't have a hazardous job per se - I work on a computer a lot, though, looking at numbers and code. I have to focus so that I don't screw up the coding, which is really hard to unravel or track back to if there's a mistake. When it's time to eat lunch or go to the gym, it takes me awhile to switch over - I feel like I'm really out of it. My "extreme focus" makes me hyper-sensitive to changes in the environment, so I don't feel too vulnerable - on the other hand, I don't notice the details right away.

 

[AaronE]

Understand that one...

I get that way when falling and bucking/limbing trees. Right before the tree falls I'm ACUTELY aware of what is around, better than dropping one on someone. But in the falling I'm only aware of what the tree and my saw are doing. listening for that first pop that tells me that its on its way over...or the remote crashing of a limb on its way down. Once its on the ground and being limbed, PAY ATTENTION to the downed tree...I have a 17 stitch reminder in my left leg as to what happens when you are not totally aware of what is going on....got tangled up in the limbs and fell backwards with a running saw coming out of a cut. Purely lucky that it was no worse and that I still have a leg.

but I have had folks walk up on me under the cover of the noise of the saw and my concentration is in the work.

So I understand your situation...and it is a bit un-nerving to be startled.

Aaron
edited, apparently I cannot spell tonight

 

[Tokugawa]

a person only has so much brain space- concentrate on what you need to,and what is most relevant. Jeff has it right, you have developed the "tools."

 

[Low-Sci]

After work...

After work is usually when I am most often condition white, but it really depends on how bad a day I've had. I find that frustration is inversely proportional to awareness in basically any situation, and especially after a bad day at the shop.

Course the shop is out in a little intersection town, so unless its a crazed hillbilly with a rifle that we built for him, theres not a whole lot of threat there. Maybe the occasional wild animal.

I find that I'm very much more alert when leaving my house or my girlfriend's house, and in general, less alert when coming in than going out. And of course if my girlfriend has been lining up hoops for me to jump through, I get frustrated, which naturally drops my awareness again.

 

[Devonai]

I lose situational awareness for at least eight hours a day, usually at the same time, too. I live alone, so I have to rely on my cat for CQ. Grim.

 

[Boom-stick]

When that pesky right hand of mine has finished pouring the 10th large whiskey down my throat, most situations don't seem to warrant that much awareness

 

[ball3006]

I lose my situational awareness when....

I am getting laid..............otherwise, it is there always.........I even have a pistol in the throne room.......chris3

 

[Biker]

When I play live. On stage, the lights blind you. Also, my eyes are closed most of the time and I can hear nothing but the band. Pretty much, I'm defenseless.
However, my wife and her .38 are close by.
Biker

 

[James T Thomas]

Mars vs. Venus

The phenomenon you describe is the mental makeup of men; the male.
Our testosterone driven minds have the organization to concentrate or narrow down our attention to the task at hand. We love details.
I used to sit in front of our first in the block Dumont TV, watching Hopalong Cassidy, only to snap out of it hearing my mother shouting "Jimmmy, Jimmy!"
I was so intent on what I was watching that I had blocked out everything going on around me but what had captured my interest.
How many football fans have totaly ignored their wives or kids because of a critical moment in the game?

Women on the other hand, being from Venus, have minds that "take it all in," but often have the details escape them entirely! That is their particular "vunerability;" if you will. They see the whole scope of things and percieve particulars that completely go over their husband's or brothers head.

{That should always be kept in mind when we deal with each other, and are tempted to conclude that she or he is just some dumb blonde or dull witted caveman.}

Practice of some of the martial arts can help in developing an overall awareness if you fall into this common and normal pattern.

 

[Maggoty]

Thanks to Iraq...

I'm wired even in my sleep. seriously i've woken up to some sounds that the guard didn't even hear, and I'm already reaching for armor and weapon. One time I even managed to roll out of the top bunk because my roomate knocking on the door sounded for all the world like a RPK right next to me in my dreams.

The one time I'm usually out of it, is when I purposely zone out with music and video games (preferebly alchohol too, but Iraq is dry.)

This is alright though, seeing as I'm a gunner and the first line of defense for my truck. It kills me when I see gunners from other units pass on the roads and they're sleeping literally on thier gun, or reading a magazine in the turret.

The bad part though (as i found out after OIF 1) is when you get home, you have to shed all that.

 

[ACP230]

When I'm trout fishing and tying a new hook on my line.
My focus narrows down to that little bit of monofilament and the eye of the hook.
I will sometimes notice what is happening and stop fiddling with the line to look around.

 

[MS .45]

When I am really in to a video game I lose awareness of things such as time but I am generally always aware of noises. It just seems like the back of my mind is always listening.

 

[Jeff White]

Maggoty said;

The bad part though (as i found out after OIF 1) is when you get home, you have to shed all that.

Brother, it's not a bad thing to shed that when you get home. It's not healthy to maintain that kind of awareness forever. You have to be able to relax. It's physically impossible to live in condition orange 24/7. Stress Kills.

Jeff

 

[Manedwolf]

With too much tequila or rum. The things lost are, in order:

1. Situational awareness
2. Vocabulary
3. Balance
4. Dignity
5. Conciousness

 

[mbs357]

Biker...I've been reading your posts for a while...and I think I've got you figured out.
I think I finally know who you are.
Are you one of these guys?

 

[Working Man]

mbs357, Bwwwaaaahhhhhahahahaha

Manedwolf, I vaguely remember that from my younger days but I think balance & dignity were switched.

 

[Biker]

Mbs357...

Hah! Actually, a band I played with about 10 years ago opened for ZZ Top and I discovered something that shocked me - don't read this if you don't want a dissapointment of sorts. WARNING.......









The beards are fake! No joke. They can walk down the street and remain anonymous.
Biker

 

[mbs357]

HO MAN
That's a shocker.


Yet I'm still lmao at the statement.
Now that you mention it...I always have thought the beards looked odd.

 

[Biker]

They look better with the beards.

Biker