About Dr. Gasaway
Dr. Richard B. Gasaway entered the fire service in 1979 and has served as firefighter, paramedic, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and fire chief in 6 fire and EMS agencies in West Virginia, Ohio and Minnesota. After completing his 33-year fire service career, Dr. Gasaway founded Situational Awareness Matters! From offices in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Amsterdam, Netherlands, their team of trainers and consultants Our trainers and consultants help individuals and teams implement practical, immediately actionable best practices to: Reduce human error; Enhance situational awareness; and, Improve high-stress, high-consequence decision making.
Client domains include: Energy, Manufacturing, Chemical, Nuclear, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals Construction, Aviation, Fire Service, Police, EMS, Private Security, Corrections, Technology, Retail, Transportation, Government, Education, and more!
Chief Gasaway earned a doctor of philosophy degree while researching how individuals and teams use situational awareness to improve high- risk decision making. His research is rooted in understanding and sharing cognitive neuroscience and human error.
Dr. Gasaway is a resident faculty member in the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and has been a long-standing instructor for the Executive Development Program at the Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute. He is also a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and is a Credentialed Chief Fire Officer through the Commission for Public Safety Excellence.
A prolific speaker and author, Dr. Gasaway’s research has been referenced in more than 450 books, book chapters and journal articles on topics related to leadership, safety, situational awareness and decision making. His best selling books, Situational Awareness Volumes 1, 2 and 3, Fireground Command Decision Making and Situational Awareness for Emergency Response (Fire Engineering Books & Videos) serve as essential guides for both developing and experienced company officers and 
incident commanders. His high-energy, humor filled presentations are a favorite with emergency service providers and have earned him over 2,500 program and keynote address invitations throughout the United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.
In 2014 Dr. Gasaway earned the National Speaker’s Association’s highest honor, Certified Speaking Professional. In 2016, he received the Next Level award from the National Speaker’s Association (Minnesota Chapter) for achieving exceptional growth in his speaking business In 2020, he received the eSpeakers Certified Virtual Presenter designation.
Dr. Gasaway has been the recipient of several prestigious honors including the American Heart Association’s Phoenix Award, the C. B. Shingleton Academic Scholarship, the William J. Litzinger Outstanding Instructor Award, and the British Fire Journal – W.L. Gore Research Excellence Award. In 2021, Dr. Gasaway became the 34th person to be inducted into the National Speakers Association (Minnesota Chapter) Speaker Hall of Fame.
Dr. Gasaway is also the host of the Situational Awareness Matters show (SAMatters Radio on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher Radio and iHeart Radio and SAMatters TV on YouTube). The show’s 400+ episodes features the stories and lessons of close-call survivors and includes tips on how to improve situational awareness and high risk decision making. The show is heading toward one million downloads, making it one of the most popular safety-oriented podcast shows on the Internet.
View Dr. Gasaway’s Curriculum Vitae
