What to do in emergencies
Aug. 1st, 2006 09:38 pmFortunately, there is an antidote to the frozen-fear reaction or at least the standing-around-not-knowing-what-to-do reaction, and that antidote is pre-emergency brainwashing. If I just have some response drilled deeply enough into my head, it can come to me in an emergency. I think I might do the right thing in several types of emergency.
Catching on fire - I'm pretty sure I would drop to the ground and roll, and I'm pretty sure I would do this in any environment such as indoors or on a lawn of very dry grass. (I don't think I would wander around calculating which floor surface is most impervious to flame.)
Bleeding - I know to apply pressure to the wound and, if possible, elevate it above the heart.
Possible broken bones - I know not to move a person like this unless there is danger of explosion or poisoning or something.
Person faints - I've taken enough CPR classes that I might know to check for pulse and breathing, to call 911, and to start CPR.
Driving emergency - the rest of that simulation exercise in driver's ed got us to practice three possible responses to driving emergencies: 1) slamming on the brakes, 2) slamming on the brakes while veering to the left, and 3) slamming on the brakes while veering to the right. As a result, last time I was in a driving emergency, I first slammed on the brakes, and then remembered that I could also steer away from the problem. I hope it would occur to me that the gas pedal could also be a handy tool, but I don't feel very confident that it would.
Robin says that the laws of physics dictate that you only get a certain amount of control over your car, so you should only pick one strategy--you shouldn't try to brake and change direction at the same time. I don't think I could just steer my way out of a situation that felt like an emergency without also using the brakes if slowing down might also help. Robin recommends video games with driving for training yourself about the options.
Tree falling in my direction - When this happened to raaga123, she had actually thought about it ahead of time, so she did not run away from the tree, as people tend to want to do, but ran at a 90-degree angle from that direction. (A branch might still get you, but if you have any time at all, you should get to where the branches are much thinner and lighter than, say, the trunk of the tree.) And this strategy would work especially well for falling telephone poles which don't have branches.
Person drowning - I feel quite sure I would look for something to throw to them or to reach to them rather than jump in after them.
Hair standing out on end (even more than usual) - I like to think that I would realize that this means that lightning is about to strike somewhere very close and so I should flatten myself against the ground to become less enticing to runaway electrons, and also yell this strategy to anyone nearby.
Fire in building - I already know that I can remember not to grab the doorknob of a door to a room suspected to contain a fire. Touch the door with your hand, and if it's cold, touch the handle with the back of your hand, and if it's cold, then slowly try opening the door. I deliberately put my fire extinguisher next to the back door so that if I'm using it then I am between the fire and the door. I like to think that I know that if it's smoky I should move by crawling because the better air is likely to be closer to the floor. And I like to think that if I am on an upper floor, I will not jump out a window. You can close doors, stuff things in cracks under doors, get fabric wet and cover yourself with that, call 911, and of course open the window and start yelling. But I've heard you almost can't help jumping out of windows because fire is so terrifying.
Car underwater - I'm pretty sure that if my car goes into a lake, and I can't get the door or window open to get out, that I will remember that it will be much easier once the pressure equalizes and meanwhile calmly keep my nose in the ever-shrinking air pocket at the ceiling, and then if I still can't open a door or window, try to kick out the back windshield, which is supposedly the easiest window to break.
Throwing up - What? When this happens to me, I get a warning of somewhere between zero and two seconds. I have learned that I cannot make it to a bathroom and that running to one will just make things harder to clean up later. I like to think that I will pull out my shirt to make a receptacle, which I can then empty and then clean in the bathroom, or that I will at least aim toward tile or wood and away from carpeting if possible. Fortunately, I almost never throw up.
Heart attack - If I thought I were having a heart attack, I think I would call 911 and then take an aspirin. Although since the only symptoms I remember are pain or "tightening" (whatever that is--maybe I'd know it if I felt it) in the chest or perhaps any strange feeling on the left side of the body, this reaction might not do me much good. There are lots of symptoms, and women are less likely to suffer the "classic" symptoms, so I'm just as likely to not even notice I'm having a heart attack as to have an appropriate response.
Someone begs me for money - Say no. I do my contributing on my own terms.
(Poisonous) snake sighting - Freeze, then back away slowly. They are afraid of you and would much rather give you a warning and have you leave than have to bite you.
Earthquake - Get under a door jamb or heavy table or desk.
Tornado/hurricane - Close all windows if there's time; get into an interior hallway or closet or other place with no windows.
Water in intersection - Don't drive through the intersection. Pull over and wait for the water to subside. (This happened to me once when I was driving. I was fortunate enough to find a parking lot and to get to watch little kids playing near the water's edge as trucks made waves as they drove through the intersection. Fortunately I was on my way home from work and did not feel rushed.)
Are you properly brainwashed for any emergencies, and if so what is the emergency, and what are you supposed to do?
Of course, not all emergencies fall neatly into a category, and in those cases, you'll see me standing around trying to get my tiny brain to think of something and hoping someone else will know what to do.
And of course there are plenty of cut-and-dried emergencies for which I have not been properly brainwashed.
A stick-up - Do whatever they say, right? Unless it's like a hijacking of a plane in order to fly it into a building or something. And try to remember details without freaking them out about how observant you are so you can report these details to the police. Details like license plates numbers and their appearance and anything they touched that might have fingerprints.
Warning to lurkers who don't know me but can calculate where to find me: don't try to stick me up, because I live in Texas where we have laws allowing us to carry concealed weapons with a license.
A growling dog - Act unafraid, right? Maybe look away, so it doesn't feel threatened? And don't run. A character in a book distracted one by throwing a ball at a 90-degree angle, and then the dog ran after the ball. Does that work in real life?
A growling bear - I think this is another one of those where you don't run. I'd have to review that before hanging out in the kind of place that has bears.
Catching on fire - I'm pretty sure I would drop to the ground and roll, and I'm pretty sure I would do this in any environment such as indoors or on a lawn of very dry grass. (I don't think I would wander around calculating which floor surface is most impervious to flame.)
Bleeding - I know to apply pressure to the wound and, if possible, elevate it above the heart.
Possible broken bones - I know not to move a person like this unless there is danger of explosion or poisoning or something.
Person faints - I've taken enough CPR classes that I might know to check for pulse and breathing, to call 911, and to start CPR.
Driving emergency - the rest of that simulation exercise in driver's ed got us to practice three possible responses to driving emergencies: 1) slamming on the brakes, 2) slamming on the brakes while veering to the left, and 3) slamming on the brakes while veering to the right. As a result, last time I was in a driving emergency, I first slammed on the brakes, and then remembered that I could also steer away from the problem. I hope it would occur to me that the gas pedal could also be a handy tool, but I don't feel very confident that it would.
Robin says that the laws of physics dictate that you only get a certain amount of control over your car, so you should only pick one strategy--you shouldn't try to brake and change direction at the same time. I don't think I could just steer my way out of a situation that felt like an emergency without also using the brakes if slowing down might also help. Robin recommends video games with driving for training yourself about the options.
Tree falling in my direction - When this happened to raaga123, she had actually thought about it ahead of time, so she did not run away from the tree, as people tend to want to do, but ran at a 90-degree angle from that direction. (A branch might still get you, but if you have any time at all, you should get to where the branches are much thinner and lighter than, say, the trunk of the tree.) And this strategy would work especially well for falling telephone poles which don't have branches.
Person drowning - I feel quite sure I would look for something to throw to them or to reach to them rather than jump in after them.
Hair standing out on end (even more than usual) - I like to think that I would realize that this means that lightning is about to strike somewhere very close and so I should flatten myself against the ground to become less enticing to runaway electrons, and also yell this strategy to anyone nearby.
Fire in building - I already know that I can remember not to grab the doorknob of a door to a room suspected to contain a fire. Touch the door with your hand, and if it's cold, touch the handle with the back of your hand, and if it's cold, then slowly try opening the door. I deliberately put my fire extinguisher next to the back door so that if I'm using it then I am between the fire and the door. I like to think that I know that if it's smoky I should move by crawling because the better air is likely to be closer to the floor. And I like to think that if I am on an upper floor, I will not jump out a window. You can close doors, stuff things in cracks under doors, get fabric wet and cover yourself with that, call 911, and of course open the window and start yelling. But I've heard you almost can't help jumping out of windows because fire is so terrifying.
Car underwater - I'm pretty sure that if my car goes into a lake, and I can't get the door or window open to get out, that I will remember that it will be much easier once the pressure equalizes and meanwhile calmly keep my nose in the ever-shrinking air pocket at the ceiling, and then if I still can't open a door or window, try to kick out the back windshield, which is supposedly the easiest window to break.
Throwing up - What? When this happens to me, I get a warning of somewhere between zero and two seconds. I have learned that I cannot make it to a bathroom and that running to one will just make things harder to clean up later. I like to think that I will pull out my shirt to make a receptacle, which I can then empty and then clean in the bathroom, or that I will at least aim toward tile or wood and away from carpeting if possible. Fortunately, I almost never throw up.
Heart attack - If I thought I were having a heart attack, I think I would call 911 and then take an aspirin. Although since the only symptoms I remember are pain or "tightening" (whatever that is--maybe I'd know it if I felt it) in the chest or perhaps any strange feeling on the left side of the body, this reaction might not do me much good. There are lots of symptoms, and women are less likely to suffer the "classic" symptoms, so I'm just as likely to not even notice I'm having a heart attack as to have an appropriate response.
Someone begs me for money - Say no. I do my contributing on my own terms.
(Poisonous) snake sighting - Freeze, then back away slowly. They are afraid of you and would much rather give you a warning and have you leave than have to bite you.
Earthquake - Get under a door jamb or heavy table or desk.
Tornado/hurricane - Close all windows if there's time; get into an interior hallway or closet or other place with no windows.
Water in intersection - Don't drive through the intersection. Pull over and wait for the water to subside. (This happened to me once when I was driving. I was fortunate enough to find a parking lot and to get to watch little kids playing near the water's edge as trucks made waves as they drove through the intersection. Fortunately I was on my way home from work and did not feel rushed.)
Are you properly brainwashed for any emergencies, and if so what is the emergency, and what are you supposed to do?
Of course, not all emergencies fall neatly into a category, and in those cases, you'll see me standing around trying to get my tiny brain to think of something and hoping someone else will know what to do.
And of course there are plenty of cut-and-dried emergencies for which I have not been properly brainwashed.
A stick-up - Do whatever they say, right? Unless it's like a hijacking of a plane in order to fly it into a building or something. And try to remember details without freaking them out about how observant you are so you can report these details to the police. Details like license plates numbers and their appearance and anything they touched that might have fingerprints.
Warning to lurkers who don't know me but can calculate where to find me: don't try to stick me up, because I live in Texas where we have laws allowing us to carry concealed weapons with a license.
A growling dog - Act unafraid, right? Maybe look away, so it doesn't feel threatened? And don't run. A character in a book distracted one by throwing a ball at a 90-degree angle, and then the dog ran after the ball. Does that work in real life?
A growling bear - I think this is another one of those where you don't run. I'd have to review that before hanging out in the kind of place that has bears.