A Mixed Method Investigation of Past Trainees’ Perceptions of a Critical Incident Situational Awareness Training Program

Abstract

In the arena of skills training for acting in complex, high-stress environments, situation awareness has been identified as a key characteristic of successful operators. The definition of situation awareness has evolved over time to include psychophysiological state management, stress inoculation, and cognitive components. This paper utilizes a mixed methods design to examine a training program, which claims to combine the aforementioned situation awareness components in protocols developed for military, law enforcement, and private security personnel. Four past participants of the training program completed in-depth, semi-structured interviews about their experience with the training. Subsequently, a training-specific survey was developed to more thoroughly investigate trainees’ experiences. Survey responses of the program’s trainees (n = 32) were compared to non-program trainees from similar fields (n = 35) on quantitative measures. Open-ended responses of the program’s trainees were qualitatively analyzed. Overall, program trainees were found to perceive the training as positively impacting their situation awareness ability in stressful/threatening situations and non-stressful situations compared to the non-program trainees. Qualitative analyses conducted with the interviews and on open-response survey items provide descriptive explanations for how the training program is perceived to be influencing situation awareness abilities.