Situational Awareness for Safety: Four Diverse Trainings in Western Massachusetts, June 2024
Situational awareness is a skill anyone can learn. Second Sight Training Systems’ 2-hour Situational Awareness for Safety course provides participants with a new set of tools for thinking about personal safety and helps people from all walks of life—not just cops—become better observers of their environment.
In June 2024, the Second Sight team traveled to Massachusetts to deliver our Situational Awareness for Safety training to individuals who worked in a variety of fields: social services, community health, public works, and in churches and schools. These trainings all took place in the four westernmost counties of the state—Franklin, Hampden, Berkshire, and Hampshire. This post describes the feedback we received from these participants and how they believe the course will help them stay safe.
I am a research psychologist with several years of experience developing and evaluating evidence-based trainings. As a Senior Research Analyst at Second Sight, I’ve helped build multiple course curricula, studied the scientific evidence underlying course principles, and monitored participant feedback from online and instructor-led classes. This last role—monitoring and evaluation—is what helps our team know when a course seemed useful to its audience.
Since 2021, Second Sight has trained thousands of individuals in situational awareness courses both online and in-person. For instance, in April 2023, two of our instructors taught several hundred individuals in Benton County, Oregon over ten different class sessions, which you can read about in our blog Situational Awareness in the Workplace. The deliveries described in this post are some of our most recent and reflect the latest version of the Situational Awareness for Safety course.
Western Massachusetts Evaluation Report - June 2024
At the end of each Situational Awareness for Safety course, participants are invited to complete a survey about their experience. Of the 53 trainees in Massachusetts who completed surveys, 100% either agreed or strongly agreed that the course left them better prepared to:
Observe any environment (100% agreed)
Look for threats (100% agreed)
Take action and keep myself safe (100% agreed)
This sample of 53 trainees was approximately 40% male, ranged in age from 19 to 65+, and worked a wide variety of jobs. Some trainees served in law enforcement or public safety, but most did not.
A fuller look at these evaluation data reveals participants generally valued the training and believed it would improve their immediate personal safety (Table 1). Worth noting is that every single trainee surveyed agreed that the course had a sufficient evidence base, plenty of relevant examples, and clear communication from the instructors.
Table 1. Results of End-of-Course Surveys with Massachusetts Participants, June 2024 (N = 53)
Survey participants rated each item on a 4-point scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, 4 = strongly agree.
In Their Own Words
As Table 1 indicates, the Massachusetts trainings received very high ratings by the numbers. Now let's have look at what participants had to say in their own words. When asked (anonymously), “Is there anything else you would like to share with us about this class?” participants responded:
“Our instructors were AMAZING! Very knowledgeable. Very clear with communication. I appreciated them and their time…”
“I would feel safe in a situation now where I would be at risk.”
“Presenters are very knowledgeable. Very interesting topic and the presenters kept us engaged. They made the content digestible for civilians which is important.”
Our evaluations show that our situational awareness training was relevant, practical, and well received. At this time, our team is also working to develop a de-escalation course to help individuals manage difficult situations and avoid or prevent violent events from occurring.
Do you think either of these courses could add value to your place of work? Contact us today.
Getting Training at Your Place of Work
Our Situational Awareness for Safety courses are useful for everyone, from office personnel to students to healthcare staff to public library employees. Improving your teams’ situational awareness can be achieved through our self-paced online courses. Alternatively, we have options for a 2-hour in-person version of the course, or a hybrid approach. We keep our courses small to allow for a high-quality experience. All in-person participants are given a guidebook outlining key concepts. This guide is something they can take home and use in the future.
If you are interested in receiving training, email us (info@secondsight-ts.com) or contact us today.