The author consulted over 1000 articles from academic journals and media reports and 75 official reports on specific accidents and spoke to numbers of survivors. She references for the reader over 30 real situations that have occurred and dissects the Survival Arc of Emotion that has been studied about human behavior; Denial, Deliberation, & Decisive. Amanda further dives into Delay, Risk, Fear, Resilience, Groupthink, Panic, Paralysis, Heroism, and finally Making New Instincts! Some valuable survivors were interviewed for the book and their knowledge and memory provide unbeatable lessons and insight. Survivors offer our greatest hope for understanding what emotions they faced and how they made decisions. Disaster experts think about disasters for a living, I really would love to be in this professional field.
Disasters Studied and Referenced ü 1212 & 1666 – City of London burned down
ü Winter 1904 – Coal Mine disaster outside of Pittsburgh, 181 died
ü 1912 – Titanic cataclysm
ü 12/6/1917 – Mont Blanc collision, followed by explosion, fire, blindly smoke, , gas exposure, tidal wave, flooding, blizzard, leading to famine, all during the war, 1963 people died and led to a PhD dissertation, “Catastrophe and Social Change”
ü WWII – Nazi Experiments on prisoners
ü May 1960 – Chile Earthquake
ü 9/9/1965 – Hurricane Betsy
ü 1969 – Hurricane Camille
ü 1974 – Pago Pago plane crash, 5 of 101 passengers lived, all had read the safety card
ü 3/27/1977 – Pan Am 747/KLM collision
ü 1977 – Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire
ü 1/13/1982 – Air Florida Flight 90 crash, Potomac River
ü 1990 – Stampede killed 1426 people from panic
ü 1992 – Series of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico
ü 2/26/1993 – World Trade Center attack
ü 9/28/1994 – MV Estonia Ferry in Baltic Sea – worst sea disaster in modern European history (989 people on board, only 137 survived)
ü 1996 – Parsons, West Virginia Flood
ü 1999 - Columbine
ü 12/2004 – Tsunami (compared 1907 to 2004, town of Langi, island of Simeulue (lost only 7/78,000)
ü 7/7/2005 – London Terrorist Attacks, 52 dead, hundreds wounded
ü 8/2/2005 – Air France flight 358
ü 8/29/2005 – Hurricane Katrina
ü 1/12/2006 – Saudi crowd stampede
ü 5/19/2006 – Emergency plane landing
ü 4/16/2007- Virginia Tech Massacre
ü 2007 – Southern CA wildfires
ü 9/11/11
Before diving in, the interesting thing about disaster, fear of disaster, is that we worry more about the things that most likely will not happen to us, then the three biggest killers that we can help prevent, Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke.
Ok, back to the subject at hand though….The best way to get the brain to perform under extreme stress is to do repeated drills, the military calls it the 8 P’s - Proper Prior Planning and Preparation, Prevents Piss Poor Performance.” One thing that we don’t want to have to do during a disaster is, THINK. We need to be able to just act. The time to prepare is GONE. The brain responds poorly to fear. However, when people believe that survival is negotiable, they become creative. When we give people the opportunity to do something, they will step up to the task. Only after disaster strikes do ordinary people realize how valuable they are in those types of situations. Just as we marry who we date, we die with those we hang out with. So, who you hang out with DOES MATTER. In fact, during a disaster, we are most likely going to check in with 4 or more sources before acting upon the situation. We all are concerned with social perception and it does affect our decisions in those critical moments. Human beings don’t like to be singled out or present ideas that may be mocked, nor do they like to be seen as an over reactor. Unfortunately, that means we would rather follow a group decision that is fatal, than be left alone to survive. In a disaster, strangers aren’t strangers anymore.
Of course, during a disaster, it is all about the BRAIN. I learned so much about how powerful it is, just from this book. The first rule of fear is that it is primitive. Fear moves through our body before we can even realize what has occurred. When that signal reaches the brainstem, neurons pass this information onto the amygdala, which is central to human fear circuit. This part of the brain handles fear by cascading a series of changes throughout our body. The chemistry of our blood literally changes. If a gunshot wound, the blood automatically begins coagulation. Blood vessels constrict so assist in trying to not bleed the body out. Blood pressure and heart rate increase, while hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline surge through the system giving our muscles extended power. Often many people later experience an odd taste in their mouth; this is from the massive dose of hormones and painkillers. The brain is super busy working so hard, but can only do so much and so it prioritizes. Because it is doing all it can to protect the organs and the body, it abandons the ability to reason and familiarize ourselves in the surrounding deteriorates quickly. Normally cortisol helps us to handle complex thinking, yet in the cortisol is busy working on other things, so we can’t handle truly handle how to solve something so easily as how to unbuckle a seat belt or inflate a life jacket. We can even lose eyesight because the body just can’t take care of all parts at once. Our nonessential functions shut down; digestion, salivation, and unfortunately often our bladder and sphincter control. Now, the amygdala understands danger in two ways; Low road (quick and dirty) & high road (accurate and slower). The cortex of the brain is the outer layer of gray matter involved in the higher brain functioning and it can recognize sounds too and send messages to the amygdala. However, this is a much slower process and normally we need more time to utilize this beautiful process. This is the highroad. As well, consider our emotions are also trying to use up brain power and those are often guided by our former life experiences. Although our amygdala size does come from our genetic disposition, the brain can be trained to respond more appropriately and quickly!
Evacuation: Did you know that planes are designed so that all passengers can escape in 90 seconds AND that is even with only half the exits available and with debris in the aisles. However, most people don’t pay attention, some ladies wear high heels, many bring their personal belongings, many delay their jumps at the door, and majority of the time, there are NEEDLESS deaths. In contrast, people who read the safety card and count rows to exits are less likely to get hurt during an emergency. The experts had to realize that people do not move like water, they do not escape from fire as they should; therefore more unnecessary deaths are associated with this disaster. Whereas, water molecules do not experience pain, fear or stumble and fall, humans fill space unevenly, by clustering, taking short cuts, stay a wrong course, rather than continue to assess as they move along the way. They aren’t like synchronized swimmers. People just don’t understand smoke and how paralyzing it will be when they face it, nor do they anticipate the noise of fire.
Leadership is so important, in fact time and time again, trapped miners tend to survive when a leader has emerged during the midst of a disaster. Also, when flight attendants aggressively scream, ‘jump’ to each person who approaches the door, people move faster and do not waste time considering the situation. Often, rescuers yell meanly and profanely at their victims, to get them to listen, to break their stupor. Profile of a survivor has also been studied and has a trend. We all think we know how we would respond, but we are most likely all wrong. However, there are very predictable behaviors that we can see in ourselves now to determine more of the reality. You may be surprised to know your everyday basket case co-worker or your overly confident manager, just MAY not be what you think they will be during a crisis. Before we can even think about how we will respond emotionally though, unfortunately, our physical traits are going to help or hinder us. Overweight people suffer the most, they are slower, their organs work harder, and they are plagued with heart attacks and strokes. Because they take up more space such as in stairwells and because America is getting bigger, evacuation hinders all people trying to navigate an evacuation route. In fact, they are 3 xs more likely to be injured or face death. Sex also determines a chance of survival. Men tend to survive better than women, however, in some disasters we lose more men because they take higher risk or feel the physical burden to walk into smoke or the over confidence to drive through flooded water. Women who wear high heels face extreme problems during disaster. Then there is race and status as well that can affect a person’s survival. Members of close knit communities or even those that still use the ancient systems to warn and aid, share knowledge through the generations and tend to save more people.
Panic – can be catastrophic, and yet is preventable. Trait Anxiety and State Anxiety – Trait is basically your normal stress level and a person’s tendency to see things as stressful; State is how one reacts to a stressful situation. There are people are more prone to lose touch with their reality when under physical stress, their brains become overwhelmed. They may not cause a stampede or mass panic, but they are likely to put themselves in sudden and intense jeopardy. Paralysis can be a tragedy or it can be a saving grace. Under a variety of circumstances, there are times when people just go limp and do nothing. It is very intriguing to the psychologists and yet happens more often than panic and is called the negative panic. This is not necessarily failure though, this is strategy. Many predators lose interest in their prey when there is no struggle. This is an ancient way of avoiding food poisoning. Rape victims often report they experienced this natural pain killer. Human beings think, reflect, and make decisions and we don’t always know how much of our brain is at work.
Heroism – It’s not genetic, not personality, religious, politics, chance, nor wealth. BUT rescuers did tend to have healthy close relationships with their parents and have diverse set of network and EMPATHY. Would you believe that discipline as a child plays a part? Those that were reasoned with were rescuers, those that were whipped, where not. Heroes have confidence in their own abilities; they believe they shape their own destiny. Sometimes what looks like altruism, is actually the opposite. We do it because it benefits us in some manner. Isn’t it interesting that strangers often treat each other so badly in daily living, yet will do tremendous acts for others in the worst of times. If you didn’t get anything out of it, you wouldn’t do it. “What were you afraid would happen if you did NOT help aid in a rescue?” “I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life, wondering if I was capable of ‘rising’ to the situation.” I love that there is a Carnegie Hero Fund and that 9000 medals have been given for those who have voluntarily risked their lives to an extraordinary degree to save others. Most are men, most don’t have high status jobs, and most rescues are for strangers. Tend to be physical laborers, often in rural areas and small towns, most cite their moral values, and lessons learned from parents and wider community. Male, single, childless, and young – that is who you most likely find rescuing!
Ok, this one is a bit embarrassing for me… the book talks about fantasy rescue or over preparation. Now, I don’t have a fantasy to rescue, but I do feel pretty prepared. Amanda says though, that some take it too far and have even caused problems during real rescue efforts. BUT I just don't want to have the moment when I think, gosh.... if only I had a whistle right now or that water would have been good to keep under my office desk. I don't want to die because I failed to prepare and you know what they say, "failing to prepare, is preparing to fail."Amanda was afraid to highlight Heroism in her book, but in the end, obviously she did. She said one disaster’s hero is another’s accomplice, meaning so much depends on the situation and even luck. Actually, she realized this is true for all disaster behaviors. Denial may work for one person, but not the other. However, heroism is typically more nebulous than the other behaviors discussed, yet it is still true. It may be still a survival strategy.
Finally, it was a bummer to read about the legality that prevents proper training and drill practice. Even our driving training lacks in today’s day and age. Handling 3000 lbs. of metal is not intuitive, but it is possible to re-wire the brain to have car-control skills and crash-avoidance maneuvers. It’s not productive to tell people how to get out of a skid, nor to remain calm in an emergency, the brain instead needs subconscious programming. It is a fluid and adaptable machine. I loved reading about the company Master Drive; in fact I will seriously consider sending Alyssa there to learn how to properly drive! http://masterdrive.com/ this nationally recognized company was created by Ronn Langford in Colorado after he lost his teenage daughter to a drunken driving T-bone accident. Ok… I hope you will read the book and also know these are some basic things we SHOULD do; On every plane ride, know your nearest exit and know other exit options, count the number of rows to an exit, take the stairs in every hotel you stay in, take the stairs of your office building 1x per week. Basically, just practice your life, think about where you spend the most time and that is most likely where you will be during a disaster. People who have some familiarity with their disaster personalities HAVE an advantage.
And remember my buddy from The Four Seasons, well his brothers were part of the ALERT program headquartered in Texas. They attended each summer and the program helped them prepare for disaster relief and by developing the heart of service in them. Cadets learn to respond and work alongside local, national, and international authorities, to provide crisis response assistance, disaster relief, and humanitarian aid. Gosh.. wish they had this for girls! Anyhow, this was way too long of notes, but I just loved this stuff and really recommend you read the book if you found this interesting!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.