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Disaster Psychology

Why We Do What We Do In an Emergency
By Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ

“...All of the seriously [auto accident] injured were transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, while others wandered around the glass-splattered scene disoriented and shocked...” Melissa Evans, Santa Barbara News-Press, Feb. 20, 2006

In a disaster drill following the Amish shootings earlier this year, students ran past exits, ran into rooms with no outside doors, and those that reached outside gathered in groups a short distance from the building, in harm’s way if the shooter exited.

In the World Trade Center disaster, at least 70% of the survivors spoke to other people or checked three to four sources before deciding what to do. Those that made it out waited an average of six minutes before heading down. “How to Get Out Alive” by Amanda Ripley, Time Magazine, May 2, 2005. Much of the information in this story is excerpted from this article.

Whatever the disaster, people first experience a period of disbelief, become docile, form groups, and move slowly. This freezing behavior is instinctive and primitive.

When we are calm, the brain takes six to 10 seconds to process each new piece of information and the more stress we are under, the slower the process, even though the brain looks for a shortcut to solve the problem. If no familiar action comes to mind, the brain will latch on to the first familiar “fix” in its library, even if it’s wrong. It’s like a Google search: put in a word or two, like “FIRE,” and your brain searches past actions, training, readings, etc., to find something to do. It will probably come back with many “hits.” But if you’ve been observant of all the exits (especially those new to you), you can say, “FIRE! FIND EXIT I SAW COMING IN.”

Sometimes your instincts do not take over or they are incorrect and you must override them. Your brain might remind you of the door you wanted to remember but it strongly recommends the one you came in, which could be dangerous.

When it comes to evacuation, 10-15% will be calm and act quickly, 15% freak out (but usually controlled by the group), and the rest do very little. Training and rehearsal will vastly improve response and this is why authorities suggest you play the “what if” game and have evacuation and disaster plans thought out and practiced. Be a nerd and notice exits and read emergency procedures in new places you visit, including transportation.

A startling example of how this works: Rick Rescorla was hired as security chief of the Morgan Stanley company, which had 3800 employees in the two towers. The first thing he noticed is that M/S had no disaster plan, so he wrote one and put it into action, including drills. On 9/11, the company lost 12 employees, six of whom were security who stayed behind to help evacuate.

We live in earthquake country, but face a number of potential hazards, from auto accidents to wildfires. Start now and put together your disaster and evacuation plans, start your get-away kits, make a list of what you’d take if you had to evacuate in a hurry, and think about how you would react in different circumstances to give your Google search engine (brain) lots of information to considered in an emergency.

Other ARES Links

• ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service
• Lessons on Emergency Communications in Hawaii