Panic Secrets
The secret to avoiding “Panic”.
Hard to believe it has been nearly 4 months since Joplin MO.
Since we have had the torrential rains of Irene and flooding in the North East as well as the interminable drought and subsequent wildfires in Texas.
There have been avoidable deaths. There will continue to be avoidable deaths. If learning from the mistakes of others is the mark of a wise man (woman). What does this say about us?
Lesson one: When faced with imminent danger the emotion of fear can petrify the uninitiated. There is a simple technique to save yourself and your children. No special tools or degrees are needed.
During the devastating tornado in Joplin there was much loss. As a nation and humans we grieve for those affected. That loss and pain can teach and subsequently save the lives of those willing to learn. For example: The story goes, that a husband at work received a text from his wife, at home, in the path of the tornado. Text: “I think a tornado is coming. What do I do?” Response: “Get into the tornado shelter.” Whether his response was received is unknown. She was never seen again.
It seems the couple had a tornado shelter. In her fear, panic eliminated the ability for rational thought.
How to gain from this loss: We did/do it in school. The military does for all personnel. Firefighters do it. You know you should do it with your children, your wife, your elderly parents, even yourself, but don’t. “Just don’t have the time.” Practice and Drill. Perform monthly household fire, tornado, evacuation packing drills, and where to meet if separated drills.
Everyone I have ever met has 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. Yet some find the time to do more than others. Why? We make time to do what we want!
What is your priority?
An excerpt as published in the new and upcoming book "Empowerment Readiness".
DRILLS
Practice and Drill
When we were back in school we had fire drills. We had tornado drills and if you are old enough you might have had nuclear bomb drills. Why all the drills?
Members of the military train, train and train. It seems they are constantly training. General training and mission specific training. Why all this training?
Training and practice allows us to take action instinctively. Training and repeated practices relieve us from having to stop, think and reason. This is especially important when we have to act fast. When the chaos of the moment makes thinking rationally difficult or to time consuming. Drills allow us to react rather than respond. This ability to react without the emotion of fear clouding our thought process is especially important for children.
During a recent tornado event in a neighboring state, a text message was received by a husband "I think a tornado is coming and I don’t know what to do." He responded "Get in the tornado shelter." She did not receive the response and was never heard from again.
I acknowledge his loss. But a lesson can be learned from this. They had a tornado shelter. But panic interrupted the thought process and it cost a life. In hindsight, regular practice drills could have saved her life.
Practice! If you have children start with daytime practices. Make a game of it and make it fun. The goal here is not to instill fear but to create an atmosphere of confidence, a desire enjoy the drills and continue. Once everyone has gotten the hang of it throw in some changes, barricade a regular escape route and force the use of an alternate route. Then do it in the dark. By all means make full use of the acronym KIS MIF (Keep it Simple Make It Fun).
Do these practice drills for fire, tornado, earthquake, or any other likely disaster possible at your location.
Remember to practice your evacuations too. Practice loading the car/truck. Time the event in order to improve upon it.
Complete each drill by accounting for everyone at the designated meeting site. A site predetermined as a meeting location. No one leaves unless everyone is accounted for.
Each drill should conclude with a debriefing. Discuss the drill, the events. What went right and what could use improving. Remember, especially with children, keep the atmosphere of fun.
Acting without thinking can be a good thing, if the action was thought out, planned and practiced before it was needed. Training and drills allow you to act on conditions that have been pre-thought and pre-planned. So technically you are not acting with out thinking you are acting with pre-thinking.
Drills are a dress rehearsal. Practicing and drilling allow you to find the fault with your plans, while there is time to make improvements.
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