Behavior of people in emergency situations

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

People's behavior has always been under the scrutiny of psychology. There is even a separate branch of psychological science entirely devoted to this problem. In addition, there are such branches as the psychology of the behavior of men and women separately, the psychology of the behavior of the child and animals. And this is not a complete list of disciplines related to behavior. But the most interesting, from the point of view of science, is the irrational behavior of people, which can be observed in the event of an emergency. There are so many controversial acts nowhere!

Panic is one of those actions. It usually begins with one person and in a short time is able to cover a fairly large group. This always has a negative effect on the conduct of rescue activities. After all, such behavior of people not only disorganizes and demoralizes the crowd, but also makes it completely uncontrollable. And, as far as we know, a person in a state of fear is able to perform absolutely unusual actions that often lie beyond his capabilities in ordinary life. Is it worth talking about tens andhundreds of panicking, because their power is beyond description. In this case, people's behavior is subject to the "herd instinct".

But sometimes the exact opposite happens (although this cannot be said about a large crowd of people), when, in the event of a life-threatening situation, a person is suddenly put on a mask of composure. He becomes reasonable, and his actions are just as fast, but, unlike the actions of a panicked person, rational. In addition, stupor may occur. In this case, the person (or group of persons) will be in a state of stupor and will not make any attempt to resolve the situation.

Therefore, the behavior of people in an emergency is usually divided into two groups: bearing a positive character and carrying a negative (pathological) character. In the first case, it is customary to talk about the adaptation of the body to the environment. In the second case, the behavior of people will be associated not only with the absence of this very adaptation, but also with complete disorientation. That is why panicking people just rush about in fear, and do not try to do anything to save themselves. Calling out to such people is, in most cases, useless.

Based on the above, we can conclude that in the event of an emergency, it is necessary by all means to avoid plunging the crowd into panic. In such cases, people's behavior must be motivated by the personal example of specially trained personnel, who must not only guide the actions, but alsoproduce them. It is also important to provide employment. Any activity, especially one aimed at ensuring survival, can distract a person from disturbing thoughts and prevent the appearance of panic fear.

Special personnel should receive not only special physical and medical training (in order to be able to help others if necessary), but also psychological training aimed at suppressing fear and maintaining the ability to communicate under critical circumstances.