Rule # 1

[Abbax8]

No matter what the emergency, fire, flood, earthquake, etc. there is ALWAYS Rule #1 to follow.

Rule #1: Stay calm and THINK!!!!!!!!!!

If you freak out you have as good a chance of making things worse instead of improving your chances to survive.

Some of the suggestions, like climbing out of a stuck elevator, prompted me to post this. I teach CPR & First Aide at work and always emphasize, stay calm and think. Many people have told me over the years they surprised themselves because they were able to respond positively during a crisis. Afterwards thye got a case of the shakes but they took care of business when needed.

There are some people who will not be able to follow this rule and will be less than useless in an emergency. If they happen to be near you, it is often best to talk to them in a assured, commanding voice to give them something to do that will NOT make matters worse for them and others. Sort of like telling the husband to go boil water when his wife's giving birth, it gets him out of the way.

Dennis

[David Craik]

Absolutely. Barring immediate danger the best thing to do is relax, assess damage and/or injury, and plan. Much like mugging or assault, many people get caught up in a state of denial - their mind instantly goes to "I can't believe this is happening!" and sticks there. This leads to paralysis of action or panic. Panic is a killer.

It is an interesting thing that it isn't neccesarily the one who is the best-trained or most knowledgeable who is the calming, assuring voice in a panicking group. After trying to get everyone calmed down and reasonably assured that everything is going to be okay, the best thing you can do is give people something to do so they feel that they are doing something. Dennis' example of boiling water is very apt. Not only to get them "out of the way", but people calm down if they feel they are contributing. It gives them hope and they feel that if they just boil this water or collect this firewood everything will turn out alright.

People are social creatures that crave some kind of hierarchy. In times of stress they want somebody to take charge. I think when the mind is loaded with fear, they want order in a state of disorder. Simple tasks take their mind off of the situation, and put the responsibility for the survival of the group on someone else. They want an 'alpha' person to tell them what to do - not in a "drill instructor" way, but somebody who seems to have a clear head and is not visibly shaken. I am convinced that the probability of survival in nearly any situation is 90% mental. You could have a group that had a plane crash in the Andes where the leader winds up being a guy from Brooklyn that has never been in the wilderness in his life. But he has the desire to live, and is a reassuring force. People want to feel like everything is going to be okay. Skills are important, but remaining calm is paramount.

[Mekugi]

Here's a nice little piece on this from an actual interview with Wyatt Earp by Stuart N. Lake:



When I say that I learned to take my time in a gunfight, I do not wish to be misunderstood, for the time to be taken was only that split fraction of a second that means the difference between deadly accuracy with a sixgun and a miss. It is hard to make this clear to a man who has never been in a gunfight. Perhaps I can best describe such time taking as going into action with the greatest speed of which a man's muscles are capable, but mentally unflustered by an urge to hurry or the need for complicated nervous and muscular actions which trick-shooting involves. Mentally deliberate, but muscularly faster than thought, is what I mean.