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| It is shocking, isn't it? |
We are living in a time of intense media coverage of events taking place throughout the world. We are more agitated and more on edge in public places than we have been in many decades. (World War II and the Riots during the 1960s' come to mind.) Reacting to events without thinking and sizing up the situation may be more dangerous than the incident itself. In fact, it may make the situation more threatening than what it really is not only for yourself but others when in a crowded environment. Taking a few seconds to take stock of what is taking place may be the difference between life and death. Our fight or flight response has a tendency to overwhelm us, we assume the worse and enter into a near panic. It is our natural instincts taking over, however, we better serve ourselves when we take a few seconds to evaluate the situation, make a plan, then following through. Running without thinking is not a strategy, it's a mass panic. We witness so much violence on television and movies that when we go out for the night it is always in the back of our minds. Slowing down situations is a strategy employed by many people in all walks of life, sometimes it is evident by those around us and other times it is not.
During one particular incident it was:
An interesting event happened during last year's Super Bowl (2016/2017). It was not the commercials or the halftime show, but with a few seconds of the game remaining; Tom Brady displayed the behavior while the game was in overtime. It was one of the last plays of the game. With the score tied, the entire team was full of energy and ran bouncing to the line of scrimmage. Except, Tom Brady, turning from the huddle he took a leisurely walk back to his position. He must have been in a period of stress, excitement, ego and everything else that goes into that particular few seconds of a person's life. I've heard it referred to as "23 hours of mind-numbing boredom, one hour of terror". The quarterback looked up at the crowd and then he looked down the field, he assumed his position. They made the play and went on to win, it appeared to me he slowed the game down, assessed the situation, got comfortable with it and executed the plan successfully.
In an emergency situation or a period of high stress, it is a good habit to get into, to slow the situation down. Slow it down in your mind and take stock of all around you. It appeared that's what Tom Brady did. I've done it, I was taught that in my flight deck training in the Navy. It's good advice for any emergency situation. Although, it's a hard behavior to conjure up when a situation is highly stressed.
Perceived threats are sometimes just as dangerous as real ones, people will sometimes panic when there is no incident at all. One that comes to mind is the old adage about screaming fire in a movie theater, it has actually happened where viewers were trampled escaping the false alarm. Sometimes we simply react with the crowd, whether it is in our sub-conscience, or an actual contagious response to our natural instincts to being threatened, we are definitely mob directed at times. During these types of events, it is more difficult to stop and take stock of the situation, it is to our advantage to teach ourselves to be perceptive under any situation. By taking a deep breath while taking in all that is happening around us as we are scanning for a way out gives ourselves an advantage. At the least, it may make us realize that charging into a crowd from behind is not a controlled response.
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| Disasters occur is correct. |
Disasters occur every place in the world, following are 5 ways to ensure your safety and that of those around you:
1) Take stock of what is happening, make sense of what is taking place, are there injuries? Look for down power lines, ruptured utility lines (gas), or damaged infrastructure. Take charge if no one else is, keep people from dangerous situations, enlist bystanders who have a tendency to think things are under control if a lot of people are present.
2) Get help, and be distinct about it, do not shout obscure directions such as "what are you doing just standing there!" Be specific such as "You Call 911, get help." While waiting for the emergency response do everything possible for the afflicted until it arrives.
3) Assess the surrounding environment, look for smoke, gases, and fumes, if the source cannot be secured the victims must be moved to a safe location.
a) If a fire is present, move all victims to a safer location, let the fire spread; a human life is more important.
b) If the incident is an automobile accident look for leaking liquids, smoke, flames, and pools of gasoline, remove the victims as rapidly as possible to a safe location.
c) An electrocution dictates extreme caution, if a person is laying close to downed electrical lines move the lines with a non-conducting device, a branch, broomstick or a piece of cut wood. Do not touch the victim when laying across the lines, you will be electrocuted as well.
4) Determine who among the injured are the most at risk and tend to those persons first, this is where our emergency kits come in, go to the trunk and get a first aid kit, or our 7-day disaster kit. If a first aid kit is not available torn towels, shirts, and handkerchiefs will all serve as emergency bandages to stop heavy bleeding.
5) Exercise your self-awareness, it is tempting during emergency situations to attempt to go beyond our knowledge, if we do not know how to perform a tracheotomy, we should not attempt it, wait for the emergency personnel. Tend to those bleeding, make sure the casualties are breathing, and remain calm as tending to them. When the paramedics arrive our job is complete, but hang around they may want to talk with you. Do not attempt tasks that are beyond our abilities or knowledge, do the best we can is the rule of the day.
(Parents follow this Link to learn how to react to 12 emergency situations.)
It's my experience that evaluating the situation is a natural reaction during and after an earthquake. Typically the ground starts to shake and when it's finished we look at whoever is nearby and say with a surprise in our voice "did you feel that? Was that an earthquake?" It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between an earthquake and an out of balance wash machine. Still, I think if a "big one" happens a "what happened" moment will still arrive.
A Tornado, wildfire, hurricane or flood normally give at a minimum a short notice. By taking a short one or two-second pause, and taking a deep breath to allow ourselves to see what's happening, allows us to determine a course of action, then executing that plan has the potential to save lives.
President Bush exhibited the same behavior on 9/11. He was reading a book to grade schoolers. He received the message that the Twin Towers were attacked then finished reading the book. He then got up and went to deal with the horrendous crisis. It's a good tool to put in your box.
Thank you for reading and sharing my blog, staying under control during stressful situations takes practice. It is achievable to attain that level of control with mind planning, placing ourselves in a trying situation mentally and telling ourselves to take a few seconds. We react to events according to our training, humans do that naturally, we call it second nature. It won't happen if we are not aware of the need for training ourselves for a controlled personal response. I'd like to hear your comments. Have you had a few seconds when time seemed to freeze? Thanks for reading.
jaquesandkate emergencykitsplus.com
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