Do you ever wonder how you would react in a disaster situation? You probably assume that you would stay calm and evacuate the premises right away without wasting much time - this is what we think our instincts would be. However, the article in the May 2nd issue of Time, called "How To Get Out Alive", (page 59) shows that most of us will have a much slower reaction time, and our thinking/assessment of the situation will be much slower than usual. We go into a "freezing behavior"/paralysis, and we have disbelief at the situation.
The article tells anecdotes of past disasters and their results, and also tells of a few studies done to show why our behavior is opposite what it should be. Also the article gives good advice about things you should do and know ahead of time to help yourself should a disaster event happen. Read the article for the full story.
Some interesting facts from the article:
"On 9/11, at least 70% of survivors spoke with other people [trying to decide what they should do] before trying to leave."
"Women are quicker to evacuate than men are."
"The people who made it out of the World Trade Center, for example, waited an average of 6 min. before heading downstairs.... About 1000 took the time to shut down their computers."
Go to this link for to read the article online:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1053663,00.html