Usually, I am a day or two late on these but this time I am early.
National Situational Awareness Day is tomorrow, September 26th. From Pretty Loaded:
The First Ever National Situational Awareness Day!
We are excited to announce the first ever National Situational Awareness Day will be September 26th! This day was approved by the registrar of the National Day Calendar and was submitted for acceptance by Pretty Loaded. Situational Awareness is a skill that everyone can use immediately to improve their personal safety.
And a bit more:
What is Situational Awareness?
Situational awareness is really just another way of being mindful of your surroundings. Developing this skill will make you more present in daily activities, which in turn helps you make better decisions in all aspects of life.
The concept of situational awareness was identified during World War I by Oswald Boelke who realized ‘the importance of gaining an awareness of the enemy before the enemy gained a similar awareness, and devised methods for accomplishing this.’
In a dangerous situation, being aware of a threat even a few seconds early may keep someone safe by giving them time to act instead of react. The lack of or inadequate situational awareness has been identified as one of the primary factors in accidents attributed to human error.
Although situational awareness skills seem to be lacking in modern society, our ancestors used these skills to survive. It has been extensively taught for decades to law enforcement and the military, but it is not exclusive to them.
Most safety experts agree that situational awareness is the number one skill to learn for the safety of everyone.
Situational Awareness Day highlights the importance of using situational awareness skills in every day life to stay out of harm’s way. Harm may come in the form of walking in front of a moving car or that of an assailant, both of which can happen from any myriad of distractions which cause one to not be aware of the surroundings and situation.
Good stuff to practice - saves lives and you can use these skills to help others. Is that guy sitting down because they are tired or are they having a medical incident? When turning into a lane of traffic, do you look both ways - what if a bicycle rider was heading in the wrong way down the street? The need for situational awareness is - literally - all around you.
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