Emergency situations- do you freeze up or leap into action?

[RedRosesForMe]

Inspired by this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=417374). The OP suggests that people need to be better prepared for emergencies- learn first aid, have an emergency action plan, etc.

All good ideas, but it got me thinking, some people seem to panic in emergencies, others thrive. I remember reading in the Little House on the Prairie books as a kid (I know, superdorky) a few occasions where Laura said her sister was too scared to move, but she (Laura) was too scared to stand still.

Is this something that can be learned, or do some people just panic in emergencies regardless of whatever prepations they have made?

From past experience, I'd say I'm an action type. A few years back I witnessed a multiple stabbing* (long story-sometimes my life is too exciting) and my first thoughts were to check on the victims, take stock of the situation, make a tournequet for one, load them up in my car and drive to the nearest hospital.

I mean, I was panicking, but productively. There were a lot of other people there, but mostly running around like chickens with their heads cut off, so to speak. I'm not normally a leadership type, I'm very shy normally, but in situations like that I feel the need to take charge. Someone's gotta make decisions, I'd much rather it be me.

What about you guys? Do you keep a cool head while the world falls apart around you? Will preparation for emergencies and/or previous experience in similar situations help people not lose it when it really counts?

*Everyone's fine, and the assailant is currently in prison.

[phall0106]

I have found that in emergency situations, I act, but it's a distant, out-of-body type of thing. I move into action, assessing the situation, evaluating the circumstances, move through options and physically engage, but it's as if I'm watching it, instead of doing it. There is little, if any, emotion tied to it.

With three kids, it's amazing how as a parent, you learn to simply react and do what needs to be done, in spite of blood, others pain, the sheer terror you'll feel later once you think about it, etc. Many times, I've looked back on something once it was over and thought, "OHMYGOD!" That's when the rush of emotion comes.

[don't ask]

From personal experience I know of two instances that seem to confirm your point. Some years ago an earthquake in Newcastle caused shaking of the building that I work in (many, many miles away). A friend who was the safety warden for her area, as soon as she felt the building shake, quickly took the elevator to the ground floor and she said she was across the road looking at the building before she realised that she was supposed to be helping evacuate the building. She decided that perhaps she should give up her position to someone better suited.

At a previous job a safety officer took a phone call about a bomb threat, and despite all the training we had been given, ran from the office yelling, "There's a bomb in the building," and ran through a glass door. There was no bomb but he ended up hospitalised.

Conversely me and my brothers all remain calm in a crisis. My middle brother when he was only about 6 or 7 dragged a drowned toddler out of the water. He had spotted him under the water, grabbed him and started dragging him to shore while calling for help. No one paid any attention until he was almost on the beach and they could see what he was doing. My youngest brother was shot in his own home and had the presence of mind to prevent himself bleeding to death.

I have been involved in an attempted suicide, a car accident where I was nearly killed, a child being run over by a truck next door to where I was visiting and have provided assistance at 3 major vehicle accidents (2 within 50 yards of my home and one involving a motorcyclist right in front of me). In each case I was able to see the stupidity of what other people at the scene were doing and was able to prevent bigger fuckups.

[RedRosesForMe]

Yeah, I've found it's similar for me, too. It's sort of frantic, but unemotionally so. Otherwise, the sight of one of my friend's bones because his arm had just been fileted like a piece of chicken would have sent me into a completely useless panic.

[Trunk]

I think I remain calm, but there just aren't a lot of times when emergency situations come up.

That said, I was thrown from a car once that flipped over. 3 others were in the car with me. I don't think my heartbeat rose above about 70 bpm. I got off the ground, looked around, and took off for the nearest house to call an ambulance.

I've been in cars with people where just a funny swerve, or a close call gets some people all worked up.

[monstro]

I almost stepped on a water mocassin the other day. When I saw the snake, my reaction was to freeze, point, and then scream until someone told me what to do. I'm glad Mr. Snake was in a good mood because I was in striking distance.

In other situations, I'm the type who will run without going anywhere. Just like Scooby and Shaggy.

[OtakuLoki]

I have a natural tendency to act in crisis, and that's been reinforced by training. Having said that, my actions are going to be better in some scenarios than in others. Give me a technical crisis, and I generally do well. (And I'm humble, too.) A fire, medical emergency, etc. Those I know what to do, and since quick action is usually best, I'm not too worried about what unforseen consequences my actions will have.

Having said that, get me into a situation where the danger is from a person, and I think I'd freeze. I'd like to think that in some of the cases that Monty's original thread had brought up, I'd have stopped playing ostrich to try something. But I also remember how I responded to a 'protest' back in college where the protesters mimicked a Contra death squad picking up a person off the street, and driving off. I think they had either a cap gun or the like, since I thought I heard gunshots. So I dropped to the ground. By the time I realized what was going on, they were gone.

The point I'm trying to make is that I believe the nature of the crisis is also going to be a factor - not all crises are going to be equal to even the same person.

[Litoris]

<snip>I have found that in emergency situations, I act, but it's a distant, out-of-body type of thing. I move into action, assessing the situation, evaluating the circumstances, move through options and physically engage, but it's as if I'm watching it, instead of doing it. There is little, if any, emotion tied to it.</snip>

This explains me to a T. I just do not panic. I do what needs to be done, and when it's over feel kind of like "heh, that was weird."

I don't know if this can be learned, per se -- but I definitely think that it was a learned thing for me. I had a very screwed up childhood and I think it desensitised me to a very large degree. I mean, when I see blood, I am squicked out because of the whole bloodborne pathogens issue, but that's it -- it doesn't affect me.

Although I don't like being the one in charge in stuff like that, I always end up that person, because I just stay calm. It's just in my nature. Hell, when I was having chest pains, I was the most calm person in the room -- even the ER nurse was more freaked out than I.

I am CPR/First aid certified -- just the smart thing to do nowdays, IMO.

I don't try to take charge in situations, it just happens. People tend to just turn into sheep -- and I hate people underfoot, so I always end up barking out orders just to get people out of my hair. It's not the frantic helping thing that a couple have mentioned, it's just that when I see a need for organisation, I fix it.

For me, all crises are the same. I deal with them, then move on. Sometimes I deal with them oddly, admittedly. Once, I was mugged at gunpoint. I didn't have a purse on me, wasn't carrying any money, credit cards or anything. I was walking home from work at 3am -- who would carry money in that situation? The guy came up behind me, stuck his gun to my head and demanded that I give him all my money. It was just so surreal that I started laughing. I said "look, buddy, I don't have any money on me. If you're going to shoot me, it's just going to be a waste of a bullet." I think I must have freaked him out by not being scared. He took off running the other way. I had enough sense to notice his clothes and which way he went to tell the police -- they didn't catch him, though.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

I have found that in emergency situations, I act, but it's a distant, out-of-body type of thing. I move into action, assessing the situation, evaluating the circumstances, move through options and physically engage, but it's as if I'm watching it, instead of doing it. There is little, if any, emotion tied to it.
Yup, that's what happens to me. My emotion swtich turns to the off position, I go on autopilot and do what needs to be done, without hesitation or distraction. Any decisions I make are with the cool detachment of Mr. Spock.

A few hours after the drama I get the shakes.

[Terrorcotta]

I'm pretty calm and able to step back and make an assesment to work through but there is one horrifying drawback, I laugh. I know it's a sort of hysterical reaction but I can't stop it. I don't act hysterical but I am laughing so as helpful as I am, you don't want me around in a crisis. And I am soooooo sorry.

[RedRosesForMe]

Having said that, get me into a situation where the danger is from a person, and I think I'd freeze. I'd like to think that in some of the cases that Monty's original thread had brought up, I'd have stopped playing ostrich to try something. But I also remember how I responded to a 'protest' back in college where the protesters mimicked a Contra death squad picking up a person off the street, and driving off. I think they had either a cap gun or the like, since I thought I heard gunshots. So I dropped to the ground. By the time I realized what was going on, they were gone.

The point I'm trying to make is that I believe the nature of the crisis is also going to be a factor - not all crises are going to be equal to even the same person.

I'm pretty good with people-related danger as well. I don't know if I'd laugh at the guy trying to mug me at gunpoint, though.

I mentioned this in another thread, but last weekend, some drunk guys jumped on a friend of mine and started kicking his ass, and I threw my purse in a bush and jumped in, and grabbed the biggest guy there to break it up. After it finally got broken up completely (it turned into a spectacular brawl) a couple of guys came running back trying to start it up again. I almost broke my hand on one guy's face, and the other claimed to have a gun. So I pushed him back and said, "Oh, you think you're a big f*$%ing man, then, dontcha?" He backed down, but later I thought to myself, you taunted a much bigger man who claimed to have a gun! :eek:

So it seems that when people pose a danger, I rush in like an idiot. I'll be the one who goes after the gunman and dies, allowing others to escape. And the media will go on and on about my bravery, and I'll be sitting there in whatever afterlife there might be, thinking, "I shoulda just shit my pants and ran like everybody else." :smack:

[bbs2k]

Leaper, in fact, I usually prefer working under pressure. For anecdotal eveidence here is a link (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8044029&postcount=1) of when I hijacked the MMP to tell people one of my better stories from last fall.

[Kalhoun]

I can go either way. My boss's tie got caught in the shredder and I just stood there screaming. On the other hand, I've done well with child-related stuff. It's a crapshoot for me.

[August West]

I never really thought about it, but as others have mentioned, it seems that I also tend to turn into a sort of automaton in a crisis. Emotions are put aside and it's time to get to work.

I remember when a friend got a huge deep cut on his leg and everyone else around was freaking out and making really bad decisions, (one grabbed a filthy dishrag to put on the wound!) I just sort of took charge and got the situation under control.

The same thing happened when I was involved in multiple vehicle accident with fatalities. It was only after I was sure that all the other parties were taken care of by EMTs and firemen that I sat down and realized how close to death I had been myself.

[romansperson]

For me, it really depends on what the emergency is. If it's something that you'd normally only see in a movie, I'm useless. Not because I panic, but because I cannot process the information that is coming in - it just does not compute because it doesn't fit in my daily reality. So I stand there like an idiot. An example would be one day when a lamp in my bedroom burst into flames - I'd accidently knocked it off a table, it shorted out and the lampshade must have been made of something really flammable, because it went right up. I just stood there, thinking, "Wow, so things really can burst into flames." My mother happened to be passing by in the hallway and she ran in, unplugged the lamp, grabbed it by the base and ran out of the house with it. And I just stood there with my mouth open. The carpet under it had melted and the flames had scorched the curtains by then too. Maybe I'd have moved if I'd gotten burned ... who knows.

Now, if someone gets hurt, I can handle that, especially if I see the events that lead up to it. If they faint or start having a seizure, though, I'm dumb again. People aren't supposed to just fall on the floor.

[Shakes]

I've always been a spring into action kind of guy.

That is until my ex-wife went into labor with our baby boy. I was so flustered I couldn't even remember the name of the hospital we were at when I was talking to my Mom on the phone. My mom then asked "well at least give me your pager number. " I couldn't do that either nor could I even remember the names of the cross roads the hospital was on.

My parents got a good laugh out of that one.

"Yeah, cool headed SHAKES." :rolleyes:

[dangermom]

So far, I've always been a freezer in a crisis; I just can't move. It's very frustrating, and nothing seems to help.

Except having children. Where my kids are concerned, I'm action-packed and I'll move right away and do all that stuff people are talking about above. When the crisis is mine, though, I completely choke.

[LVgeogeek]

I usually am ready to act. It just seems second nature to me.

About 5 years ago, I was with my mom and we had just come from eating lunch and we pulled out onto the road. About a minute after I pulled out a car came up behind me swerved around me, almost him me when he cut me off. He was driving all crazy and erratic and seemed to have a case of "road rage". When he passed me I said to my mom "that's an accident waiting to happen!" No sooner than I finished that statement, he lost control of his car. It launched off the side of the road, flipped end over end twice and then rolled three times. It looked like a movie car wreck!

I pulled my car over, grabbed my cell phone and took off running across the desert (It was on the south end of Henderson, with very little development at the time) in flip flop sandals. I was fully prepared to give this guy first aid, if he wasn't already dead. I called 911 and gave them the information That I had. The guy had been thrown from the car and smelled like a brewery. Just as I was getting down to start first aid on the guy, a couple of guys ran up behind me and said they were off duty paramedics and that an emergency crew was on the way started first aid on him. They had gloves and towels and a kit. I let them take over.

It turned out the guy had a skull fracture. Paramedics showed up, the police showed up. Me and my mom gave our statements to the police, they loaded they guy up and I never heard about it again.

I was just glad the guy only hurt himself and didn't take another car out with him.

[butler1850]

I'm a reactor. (Non-Nuclear, fueled by liquor in this case) Last summer, we took a trip to Lake Umbagog with a bunch of friends. One of them turned out to be pretty much a non-swimmer. The canoe I was in with him tipped (he jumped out after a very minor wave rocked the canoe), taking both of us into the water.

I wasn't very worried about being 1/2 mile from shore, in the water, next to a swamped canoe, with friends circling in a 2nd canoe and a kayak, but once we realized he was beginning to panic a bit, we got a life preserver on him. It was a bit odd putting it on him floating in 40ft of water, 1/2 mile from shore, but I'm very comfortable in the water, was once trained as a lifeguard, and good in a crisis anyway. A nice guy with a fishing boat came over to assist us in righting and reboarding the canoe. No gear was lost.

On the way out of the campsite (2 mile canoe trip) we put the life preserver on him before we left shore.

Mrs. Butler is panic prone, but usually I can calm her down, and take care of whatever needs to be done.

[Bobotheoptimist]

I usually pause and take a good look around first. If a cop or paramedic or whatever is in immediate view, I let them handle things. Otherwise I do whatever I can while yelling orders at people who don't appear to be helping to my satisfaction.
I'm not exactly calm, however. I'm likely to be rather short with anyone in my way.

[Stuffy]

I'm a Leaper and a Barker. Once back in HS my girlfriend and I were waiting on a bus and a purse snatcher grabbed this old ladies purse. I didn't even think, I chased him down tackled him and returned the ladies purse. The guy ran off.

A couple of years ago, the apartment building we lived in caught fire. It started in the garage. After evacuating my family I organized the other residents in getting the building vacated.

[lieu]

I get that weird "calm" thing come over me and pretty much go forth with a myopic resolve. Later on I very well may re-evaluate, ponder and question but for some strange reason when faced with a crisis, the inclination to act decisively just seems to outweigh every other consideration.

[The Scrivener]

My coolness under stress varies, to put it mildly. Once, when driving in a right-hand lane in a business district on US-1, I saw a motorcyclist a couple of lanes over to the left take a tumble and roll on the pavement before I lost my visual bead on him (he was in my peripheral vision to begin with, and I was looking to peel off into the nearest parking lot, slowing down as fast as possible but still going way too fast). The terrifying thing running through my mind as I ran back along the highway to the point of the accident was that a car was bearing down on the guy -- following too closely, really -- and I was afraid that the guy was already a mash of roadkill. Somehow, the car driver managed to avoid the 'cyclist, who was already up, brushing himself off, and retrieving his bike when I got near enough for him to hear me yelling if he was okay. He actually gave me a big "thumbs up," the hot dog.

Flash forward many years later... I'm at work, feeling a bit peckish, so I wander over to the corporate cafeteria (which was closed and empty), and see a mouse walking along a counter near where the trays get returned... and let out a scream. A real, Fay Wray-worthy shriek. Two guys from back in the food-prep area come running out, primed to deal with, no doubt, an assault-with-a-deadly-weapon/rape/murder in progress, and I shakily explain that I saw a mouse. The look of bewilderment and disgust on their faces was, in retrospect, priceless. :o

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

So far, I've always been a freezer in a crisis; I just can't move. It's very frustrating, and nothing seems to help.

Except having children. Where my kids are concerned, I'm action-packed and I'll move right away and do all that stuff people are talking about above. When the crisis is mine, though, I completely choke.It woill be interesting to see what happens when I have kids. I'm calm, cool and collected in a crisis now, but maybe when I hve kids, I'll be your opposite and just stand there blubbering "Somebody save my boy!" (Or girl.)

[The Hamster King]

I'm generally a very thoughtful, low-key guy and that seems to carry through in times of crisis. For example, about ten years ago I was cooking dinner and the toaster oven caught fire. Without missing a beat I picked up a dishtowel, ran it under the faucet, and calmly tossed it over the oven. Afterwards I was kind of amazed at having come up with that solution on the fly.

Other times I've responded similarly:

* Picking up a baseball bat and running out the front door in response to cries for help out in the street.

* Jumping out of my car and running to help a motorcyclist who had smashed into another car.

* Giving CPR to a guy suffering a heart attack in the midst of a group of panicking family members.

I've never been in a situation where my own life was in immediate danger. Hopefully I never will, but if I am I hope I keep my cool as well as I have in other crises.

[TroubleAgain]

I don't know. I've never really had to deal with a major crisis. In all the smaller crises in my life I've remained calm and known what to do, and I think it'd probably be the same in a major crisis, but I just don't know for sure.

[NurseCarmen]

I have found that in emergency situations, I act, but it's a distant, out-of-body type of thing. I move into action, assessing the situation, evaluating the circumstances, move through options and physically engage, but it's as if I'm watching it, instead of doing it. There is little, if any, emotion tied to it.Add me to this list. Excellent description. I've been there more times than I'd care.

My wife once asked me, after one such episode, weren't you scared? Well, shit ya, I was. I just wasn't panicked.

[RedRosesForMe]

I'm not sure that having kids makes a person better able to handle a crisis.

My sister lives in a multi-building apartment complex, and is friendly with a family that lives behind her building. One day she looked out the window to see smoke pouring out of their apartment. Sis' SO ran out the door to the other apartment, Sis on his tail. When she got there everyone was outside, except her SO... and the 8 month old baby. Her SO ran into the burning apartment because this woman forgot to save her baby. And she has 3 kids, the oldest of whom is ten, so you'd think by now she'd be used to emergencies and better able to deal with them.

The baby was fine, and Sis' SO put out the rather bad kitchen fire with a fire extinguisher (which the woman had run past and completely ignored in her attempt to save her own ass).

I wonder if the people who don't act are afraid to do so, because they're worried that they might make the wrong decision and make things worse. I guess that might be partly because some people, for instance, have neer seen a bad wound, and will freak out at the sight of blood without being able to analyze the situation. Or maybe the brain just shuts down? In the other thread someone described it as the "flight" part of fight or flight, but with nowhere to go.

I always pause for a moment to assess the situation, like others have said. It may only be 2 seconds, but it gives you the chance to take stock of things. For example, with the stabbing, there were 3 victims, all of whom are very good friends of mine. All 3 had gotten stabbed in extremities, so the major danger was blood loss (as opposed to, say, stomach wounds with the danger of waste and acids leaking into the body), and EMTs wouldn't be able to do much more than we would (apply pressure, etc). So I decided to drive to the hospital rather than call an ambulance because money was an issue for all involved. One actually tried to refuse treatment because she couldn't afford it.

Most of my friends are action types, too, which is actually how they got stabbed in the first place. Crazy guy goes after someone with a knife, and what do we do? Wrestle him to the ground and try to subdue him. Eh, 3 people with flesh wounds is better than 1 dead guy with multiple stab wounds to the chest.

[Balance]

Yup, that's what happens to me. My emotion swtich turns to the off position, I go on autopilot and do what needs to be done, without hesitation or distraction. Any decisions I make are with the cool detachment of Mr. Spock.

A few hours after the drama I get the shakes.
Precisely. In the middle of a crisis, I usually feel like I have ice water for blood. A few times, I've done really crazy-dangerous things in this state--the threat-assessment part of my brain just shrugged and said, "Screw it. It's worth it." Afterwards, I may sit down and shake for an hour. I suppose I save my hysterics until I have time for them.

I'm not usually an organizer in crisis. I shove people out of the way. I act, rather than barking orders, unless it's for something that's simply physically impossible for me to do alone.

Aside: I'm told that I sound nothing like myself when I do speak in a crisis. My normal voice is very soft and fairly high-pitched; when I speak in emergency-mode, it turns into what a friend of mine calls "the God-voice". I don't remember anything like that myself, but it's apparently pretty dramatic.

[NinjaChick]

If I'm lucky I just freeze up and stand there gaping. If I'm unlucky I hyperventilate, pass out, vomit, shake violently, sob hysterically, and so forth.

I'm not much use in scary situations.

[kunilou]

I wonder if the people who don't act are afraid to do so, because they're worried that they might make the wrong decision and make things worse. I guess that might be partly because some people, for instance, have neer seen a bad wound, and will freak out at the sight of blood without being able to analyze the situation. Or maybe the brain just shuts down? In the other thread someone described it as the "flight" part of fight or flight, but with nowhere to go.

I don't think there's anything definable about it, because I've gone both ways.

I've done the Heimlich on three people who were choking -- twice it happened in restaurants where I ran all the way across the room before anyone else in the place had even gotten out of their seats.

But other times I've been completely frozen in my tracks. Even when the rational part of my brain was screaming what to do, the rest of me simply couldn't do anything.

[LifeOnWry]

Yeah, I'm an either/or, myself. In general, I tend to react first, think later, and apparently I'm pretty damn bossy when in action-heroine mode, barking orders at everyone and shoving non-useful people out of the way. As soon as a situation is under control, though, I go quickly and thoroughly to pieces. There have been enough times that I've run around in a circle yelling, "what to do, what to do?" though that I don't think I can be counted on all the time.

And I will disclaimer all the above with this: I don't think any of the emergencies I have had to deal with were exceptionally frightening or life-threatening, so I honestly have no idea which way I would go in that case.

[Leaper]

Leaper, in fact

Yes?

[Cat Whisperer]

In the emergencies I've been in, I've tended to get unemotional and ice-cold analytical and just do what needs to be done, often with a grin on my face (sort of like your laughing, Terrorcotta - mine is smiling). It's a strange feeling - I'm aware that there is danger, but it's not relevant at the moment - all that matters is what needs to be done.

[Traveling Riverside Bluesman]

I have found that in emergency situations, I act, but it's a distant, out-of-body type of thing. I move into action, assessing the situation, evaluating the circumstances, move through options and physically engage, but it's as if I'm watching it, instead of doing it. There is little, if any, emotion tied to it.

With me, I am right there, in the middle, scared as hell, but in charge of the situation, giving orders and acting.

Scared but not panicking, as some one else said. I feel detached afterwards as if the person who acted was not me, but some one who took over for a minute. And they were scared and calm, and I get the adrenaline rush, after the emergency is done.

I think Boy Scout training is responsible for the me that appears then, and goes away after. I wish he would stay, I like how he handles my life.

[Seven]

Yup, that's what happens to me. My emotion swtich turns to the off position, I go on autopilot and do what needs to be done, without hesitation or distraction. Any decisions I make are with the cool detachment of Mr. Spock.

A few hours after the drama I get the shakes.

I'm the same as you. I just act and remain quite calm, do what needs to be done and I'm very level-headed. People have commented on how relaxed I've been in sticky situations.

Hours later when my brain has time to think about what happened, I get weird.

[Khadaji]

Depends. If I'm in a situation where I know what needs to be done I'll do it straight off. If I'm out of my depth, I will do nothing so as not to make things worse.

[danceswithcats]

There's an undeniable benefit from training which the fire service, ambulance, and hazmat experience have bestowed upon me. Autopilot guides you to assess, prioritize, delegate, and act. Afterwards, you sit back, have a long pull on a cold one, and say to yourself, Shiiiiiit! That could have gone all kinds of sideways ugly!"

[Rilchiam]

I'm neither a freezer nor a leaper.

I'm not strong; I'm not tough; I have no medical training. I can't break up a fight or assist in a car accident. What I do is stay out of the immediate crisis, and if necessary and possible, work on the perimeter.

Two examples: When I worked closing shift in a diner, there was an altercation between two of regulars. Someone else broke it up while I went around to the handful of other customers, assuring them it would be okay, and if they wanted to move to the dining room, or have me wrap their food to go, I would take care of that. I'm not sure that anyone would have freaked or gotten drawn into a free-for-all, but you never know.

And once I was in a museum when an elderly man collapsed. Someone else did CPR and a guard called 911. What I did was station myself at the door facing the main entrance, and divert people around the room. "Guy having heart attack; EMTs coming through; be over in a few minutes. No, he's okay; EMTs coming through." Again, I'm not sure there would have been a bottleneck, but you never know.

And sometimes the decision is binary. Once, on my own, I saw a rattlesnake. I have no memory of how I got to the other side of the creek, but if I'd had shaky legs, I would been in the creek: those stepping stones were tricky. Another time, with two children, not my own, I saw a scorpion. Their shirts were a little bit stretched out of shape afterwards, but otherwise they were fine.

I tend to think of my role in emergencies as "get out of the way and let the experts do their thing." I'm not here to be a hero; I'm here to be a helper. I wouldn't know what orders to bark, but I do know what to say to a crying lost child. That's my role.

[Sophistry and Illusion]

If I'm lucky I just freeze up and stand there gaping. If I'm unlucky I hyperventilate, pass out, vomit, shake violently, sob hysterically, and so forth.

I'm not much use in scary situations.
Some kind of ninja you'll make! Can you imagine Sho Kosugi curling up and blubbering when confronted by the mysterious evil Masked Ninja?

[Nava]

I remain calm and act. If someone else takes charge faster than me, I will not fight them for it, but most of the people with whom I've shared emergencies have fallen into these groups:
- other people in chicken mode until I get them to snap out of it,
- other people in chicken mode, need to be restrained,
- other people and myself collaborate seamlessly.

Training helps IF it's been done correctly, which includes not only giving you information but getting you in the right mindset. Every one of my college lab courses included an introduction on safety procedures; we were not allowed to get in the lab unless the TAs considered we could be trusted to work safely and behave correctly in an emergency. Just knowing that Someone Who Knows Better Thinks I Can Do This can help you stay calm, from conversations with classmates. We weren't just given procedures to follow; we were given information on what kind of dangers were in each lab, which kind of safety tools we had (and their usage), and told to use our brains. It's not about being able to recite and draw "the elements of a fire", it's about being able to figure out how to isolate one from the other two when you're staring at the blaze.

I've seen things like a classmate using his own hands to snuff out a two-focus fire... it wasn't the official procedure, but in that particular case it worked a lot better than the official procedure would have, so it was the Right Thing To Do.

[Cartooniverse]

I can go either way. My boss's tie got caught in the shredder and I just stood there screaming. On the other hand, I've done well with child-related stuff. It's a crapshoot for me.

That's because you love your children, and on the other hand.............................

:D

I posted into the linked thread in the O.P. Don't want to repeat here. I'm a retired E.M.T. so that should answer how I do in the heat of the moment.

I would consider it mentally unhealthy if someone truly did not have a delayed response to extreme stress or trauma. It is the nature of the animal. How you work through that process may change if you have professional training, but please- I've done calls where I was in tears when I got back to the bay, or back home.

It's life.

Cartooniverse

[DiggitCamara]

A year and a few months ago, I was involved in a pretty horrible accident (my car got T-boned in an intersection).

After what seems now a couple of seconds of black-out, I awoke in my car. Someone approached my car and asked me if I was all-right. Subsequently I grabbed my mobile phone (which, luckily, I had stored next to me between passenger and driver's seats), I started making phone calls to my brother and others that I knew were close to the accident site so they could come over and lend a hand. Meanwhile I gave my papers to a policeman, talked to the paramedic, was taken out of my car (through the back door), deposited in an ambulance and finally driven to the hospital (where, via mobile phone, I had to ferret out my insurance data from my insurance agent).

And my right leg was broken in two places (I had a nail inserted into my leg the following morning).

I think I handled myself rather well at the time.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

I tend to be a leaper. Not always a calm leaper, but I can usually get the people calmed down that need to be calmed down.

I remember when I first realized there were freezers and leapers. I was trying to fix an electric window in my parent's car. It was a rear window, and I had climbed into the front seat to try the front control. I figured I might be able to jar it into working, so I reached behind me and slammed the door shut--on my fingers.

I was reasonably calm about it. I yelled for a while, and then started honking the horn until my mother came out. When she realized what had happened, she froze. I kept saying, "open the door," but she just couldn't. I resumed honking the horn and my father rescued me.

Same thing happened when I got treed by an elk. My mother completely freaked out. My father laughed at me and told her it would go away eventually and I'd be able to climb down.