Toronto had a series of propane explosions at storage facilities today, forcing the evacuation of 12,000 people.
That got me thinking. Why a some people better in accessing risk then others?
Preparation, survival, a can-do-attitude and drilling is a credo of boy scouts and the army, which many people have a background from.
Why do some people behave appropriately in disasters and under different circumstances not? Why do some people shift into denial in a disaster? Allot has to so with pattern recognition and sense-making. That's why many people can't or won't imagine worse case scenarios, such as an influenza pandemic, shutting down the entire country or an electromagnetic pulse attack (emp) on the USA which could fry all electrical and electronic equipment and paralyze society for possibly up to a year or more.
Why are some people calmer under extreme duress and why do others panic or freeze in disbelief? Are some humans hardwired to over-perform in disaster circumstances?
Blue collar, child-less men tend to be more heroic in tragic situations and disasters, but women tend to survive hurricanes or flood better, because they take cues from authority to evacuate faster then men.
Is there a biochemistry of survival? What's behind Fight or flight?
A protein, "Neuropetide Y" in the blood helps people stay focused in an emergency or stress events and is produced more by calm survivors vs people that freeze or become passive in a crisis.
When the worst happens, how will you react?
On Coast to Coast radio tonight, Journalist Amanda Ripley discusses the psychology of disaster response and her new book, The Unthinkable; Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why (Hardcover) by Amanda Ripley (Author)
and here> Psychopharmacological possibilities in the acute disaster setting . or take a quiz --How Prepared Are You if Disaster Strikes? ( I got 11 out of 11, so according to the NYT I'm a survival expert)
© 2005-2008 Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"© ™
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