How to Stay Safe in a Crisis

We all know the drill, whether it’s the fire drill in our offices or the disaster preparedness plan in our apartment blocks, we have always been exhorted and encouraged to rehearse and practice what we would do in the event of the crisis. Every time you board a flight, you are made to sit through a presentation by the air hostess, who takes you through the entire drill on what you should do in various potentially hazardous situations, which can include crash landing, landing on water or reduction in cabin pressure. However, truth be told, many of us rarely if ever pay attention. Crisis, disasters, and crash landings are something that happens to other people, not to us! We are sentimental and superstitious, we think that if we prepare for something, we are literally inviting that event. So we rifle through the in-flight magazine, while the air hostess drones on about safety rules. We take a compensatory off, the day the office has scheduled a fire drill (which is why many offices have cleverly started implementing surprise drills!) and we skip the society meetings in our apartment when the topic of discussion is ‘disaster preparedness’. In short, when it comes to preparing for a disaster of any sort, we tend to follow the ‘Ostrich in sand’ policy, which is to say, we take an attitude of if we don’t think about it, it won’t happen! What would we do if we really do face a crisis? We would trust our instincts. We have been led to believe through popular media and through pulp fiction novels, that human beings are primed to take action in a crisis- the famous fight or flight response has been touted as the standard reaction to moments of crisis. However, Scientists are now saying that, far from having our senses and intellect sharpened during a crisis, we actually become dumber. According to the forensic psychiatrist, Charles Morgan, No one becomes smarter under stress, the question is who becomes dumber faster[1] Forget flight or fight, the most common response to a crisis is to freeze, scientists say. So what can we do to make sure that we can keep our wits about us in a crisis? Whether it is a terrorist attack, an earthquake, a fire or even something as mundane as losing your passports in a strange country, it is important to keep our cool and keep our wits about us in a crisis. So here are a few tips that would be useful, God Forbid! In the event, you find yourself in the midst of a crisis

1. Follow emergency drills just as if it is the real thing. This is extremely important. Emergency drills are useful for not just teaching you the steps you should take in the event of a crisis, but they also help to create and reinforce procedural memory. This procedural memory can take over and guide your actions when your thinking powers are paralyzed.
2. Whenever you enter a building that is new, make a note of the nearest exit routes
3. Make sure to listen to safety briefings during flights and make a mental note of all the safety steps.
4. Know the safe zones- generally, in an aircraft, the safest seat is one row behind the exit, where you will be within easy reach of the exit in case of emergency. In a taxi, the safest seat is behind the driver and in a hotel, the safest room is at the back between the first and fourth floors.
5. In the event of an emergency act as quickly as you can. Do not worry about being embarrassed and do not wait for others to act, most people are too frozen by fear to do anything
6. If the fire alarm goes off in the building where you are situated. Don’t stop to determine whether it’s the real thing or just a drill, as we have reiterated above, treat every drill just as if it’s the real drill and immediately walk to the nearest area of safety
7. If you find yourself caught up in the middle of a riot or terrorist attack, keep your head down and run fast.

Of course, we all would wish that nothing would ever go wrong, and most probably nothing ever will, but being prepared helps us deal in a far better way in the event of a crisis, and greatly increases the chances of our coming out unscathed. To know more about how to stay calm in a crisis in a new country, get in touch with Global Tree one of the best immigration consultants in India.