Really engrossing article by Zaria Gorvett at BBC Future:
Humans are simply not equipped to cope with unexpected life-threatening situations. We have hard-wired reactions that compromise our ability to react when things go really bad.
...Surprisingly, plenty of other people in deadly scenarios don’t act fast enough to save their own lives. From arguing over small change while a ship sinks into stormy water, to standing idly on the beach as a tsunami approaches, psychologists have known for years that people make self-destructive decisions under pressure. Though news reports tend to focus on miraculous survival, if people escape with their lives it’s often despite their actions – not because of them.
“Survival training isn’t so much about training people what to do – you’re mostly training them not to do certain things that they would normally think to do,” says John Leach, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth who survived the King’s Cross fire disaster in 1987. He estimates that in a crisis, 80-90% of people respond inappropriately.
The rest of the article goes into some detail on things people do when they find themselves in a life-threatening situation: freezing; inability to think; tunnel vision; staying stuck in a routine; denial.
There is no simple answer. One strategy is to practice responses to dangerous situations — but that’s only helpful if you have an idea ahead of time what you might be up against. I’m putting this up here so people might have an idea of what they’re up against should the worst happen. Your own instinctive responses can’t be trusted. Even with preparation, the reality can still be overwhelming.
As the article notes, sometimes it all comes down to luck — but as has been observed elsewhere, “chance favors the prepared mind”.
Do you have stories of survival? Near disaster? Dumb luck? Do you have emergency plans? Do you have any kind of practice sessions, training? What would you do differently now, if you’ve been through something like this? Do you have safety drills at work? People tasked with building safety? Do you know where all of the exits are? Do you have any training, work on any kind of rescue squad or ambulance? Got a first aid kit any where, or a fire extinguisher? When was the last time you checked your smoke alarms?
Feel free to share.