Could you survive in a disaster? Take our quiz and find out if you are likely to survive a disaster or not

Could you survive a disaster? The BBC asked survival experts what people should do to survive a disaster. Here's one thing experts suggested can dramatically increase your odds.

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Luck plays a large role in whether or not people survive disasters, but they can also make choices that improve, or diminish their chances.

Highlights

By Marshall Connolly (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
7/18/2017 (6 years ago)

Published in Technology

Keywords: disaster, survive, survival, plan, rehearse, do, don't

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- Can you survive the following scenario? Be honest and fair with your responses to yourself and we'll tell you how you did below.

You are working on a high floor in an office building. Suddenly, everything rattles, enough to move your coffee cup. There's a loud, but apparently distant bang. Work is interrupted. Everyone begins looking around and talking excitedly. There is no smoke, no heat, no evidence anything is wrong.

Here are some options.

1.    Wait for more information, while frightening, there may not be any danger.
2.    Actively seek information, and wait for directions.
3.    Stay put and await rescue, or wait to see if danger even develops.
4.    Assume a possible state of danger. Save your work, in case you're wrong, secure your workstation, grab your coat and begin to evacuate.
5.    Begin immediate evacuation, and instruct your coworkers to do the same. Cooperate.
6.    Immediately evacuate with extreme haste, and do not bother with skeptics or people who are not taking the situation seriously.

Now let's assume you've decided to leave. As you make your exit, you can choose the following manners of evacuation:

1.    Evacuate calmly, taking your time to secure things that are important such as coats, purses, or valuable items.
2.    Patiently wait for most people to get out of the way before making your exit.
3.    Leave everything behind and exit with haste.
4.    Drop everything and rush for the exit as quickly as possible, stopping for nobody.
5.    Be a leader and ensure everyone is safely out before beginning your evacuation.

According to the experts, most people freeze when faced with life-threatening danger. From plane crashes to tsunamis to terrorist attacks, the most common mistake is that people do nothing. There is a reason for this "deer in the headlights" response.

When confronted with a rapidly changing situation, such as danger in a place that is considered safe, the brain releases a cascade of hormones. First, there is dopamine, which feels good and soothes the initial shock and stress. Then comes adrenaline which stops pain and enables the body to operate in spite of injury. The brain then prefers to follow habits. You need your wallet. Grab your purse. The laptop is expensive. Queue up for exit. Make a joke to diffuse the tension. Wait for the elevator. If you don't see smoke, there must not be danger. And so on.

This explains why people run into burning buildings for wallets or other valuable items. It's why they sit patiently when confronted with existential threats. Why they stand in place as a terrorist fires a rifle into a crowd.

What choices did you make above?

The correct choice for the first question is answer five. Something has happened that is well beyond the norm, therefore, it is understandable to evacuate first and survive to ask questions later. Cooperation is important, and can increase survival chances, but it is important to keep moving towards safety. There are no rewards for saving your work, or locking an office door as many people did during the 9-11 attacks. In the Twin Towers, many people waited an average of five to six minutes before they began evacuation. Of those, several chose to stay behind to secure workstations, lock doors, power off computers, or grab important items. The death toll for people who made these choices was virtually 100 percent.

And what about the second question? Did you leave everything behind and exit with haste? If so, good job, you've maximized your odds of survival.

Experts have noted that people who die in aviation accidents, such as when planes catch fire on the runway, die because people take their time exiting the plane. Many reach for items in overhead compartments. Others take their time to exit rather politely. Instead of mass panic, people tend to cooperate and take their time.

Cooperation is certainly smart, but taking time is not. A disaster is no time to be polite. It is also no time to delay. When in a disaster, a person should assume their possessions as well as others around them are lost. Survivors are people who focus on self-preservation and act rather than freeze.

Admittedly, this can be hard. We are taught to save precious things. News reports of parents who died by going back into burning houses trying to save their children are tragically common. Nobody can blame a parent for dying to save their child, but the research is clear. Worrying about others can be a fatal liability.

Of course, selfish behavior that is extreme, such as casting off an empty lifeboat is also a mistake. However, groups tend to police such behavior. People who act out in detriment to others during disasters are often dealt with harshly. For example, a person who spends too much time on retrieving their luggage during an air evacuation may find themselves injured or worse.

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Experts say cooperation is better, and helps to ensure the greatest number of people survive. But extreme heroism or selfless cooperation also increases personal danger. On 9-11, one man died when he refused to evacuate with his friend who was wheelchair bound. And many first responders died when they entered the towers, despite the danger. Of course, they were compelled by duty, but not all people face this same compulsion.

Here are the dos and don't from the experts:

1.    Always have a plan for every possible disaster wherever you are. Know the locations of exits. When possible drill, even if just in your mind. Practice with your family at home. Rehearse and discuss plans in advance.

2.    Take even minor disasters seriously, even if the danger is not apparent. A common case are people who don't evacuate because they don't see smoke or appreciate the danger they are in. Some are skeptical of authority, or feel guilty about leaving a place. This is why people die in brush fires despite being warned to evacuate. Likewise, people die while filming tsunamis. Disasters can be fast moving. Evacuation orders are not issued lightly, and even if there is no disaster imminent, an order to evacuate means disaster could reasonably occur. Assume danger, even when you cannot see it, especially if the experts are issuing the warning.

3.    Cooperate, and try to think through a plan to survive, but don't take too long to deliberate. Action is key. Cooperative action is best, and ensures more people will make it out.

4.    Think a bit. Don't endanger yourself by mindlessly reacting. During the 1991 Gulf War, some Israeli civilians died when they locked themselves in sealed rooms with their gas masks on, fearing chemical attack. They reacted so swiftly and with so much fear, they forgot to open their gas mask filters and suffocated themselves. Had they moved with deliberate, practiced action, they would not have forgot the critical step.

Don't:

1.    Don't waste time retrieving items, securing items, or prepping. Just go!

2.    Be selfish to the point you endanger others or yourself.

3.    Don't watch or attempt to record the experience. Uncounted people die while attempting to document the circumstances they are in. It's a distraction from your first priority, which should be mere survival.

4.    Don't freeze or deny the event is happening. While movies suggest people panic and flee with their arms flailing, the truth is most people freeze, deny the disaster is a threat, or they move too slowly. Instead, you should move deliberately and with urgency.

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5.    Don't overthink and deliberate to the point of wasting time. In a disaster the most important thing is to get out of harm's way. Stay focused on this goal above all others.

6.    Panic to the point you endanger yourself or others.

Luck plays a significant role too. But assuming you are lucky enough to have a chance, having plans, rehearsing, and being familiar with escape routes is the single best thing people can do to ensure they survive a disaster.

Think about where you are at this moment. Do you have a plan to get yourself to safety? What if your primary plan is impossible? Do you have an alternate plan? Think now and rehearse so when the time comes you react appropriately.