Reference no: EM132215121

To receive full credit, be sure to respond to at least two of your classmates' postings.Your replies must contain a minimum of 75 words.

#1

Hello class! While it is scary to think about how I would response in a hazard, disaster, emergency, or catastrophe, it is important to be prepared. Thankfully, I have not had an actually experience with a hurricane, terrorist incident, or home fire. The closest to an emergency I have been in is with tornadoes.

There have been quite a few times where I have had to seek shelter during a tornado warning. I remember in 8th grade during class there was a tornado very close to my school. We all lined up against an inside facing brick wall and huddled up in balls to protect our heads. It was quite scary, but thankfully the tornado missed the school.

If a hurricane was approaching I think my natural response would be to first watch the news to see how serious the situation was. If it looked bad, and they were telling people to leave then I would pack up my essentials, board up windows, and evacuate the area. I wouldn't "ride it out", especially if they were urging people to leave immediately. In a terrorist incident, my immediate response would probably be to hide. For a household fire, I would first try to put it out using a fire extinguisher.

If the fire was getting too big and I realized I wouldn't be able to put it out, I would flee my house and call 911. I live on the second floor of my building and I have a roll down window ladder to escape from the window if I needed to. You never know until you are actually in that situation, but I feel like I would be able to remain calm. I do have an emergency backpack with 3 days' worth of food and water, along with a lantern, knife, first aid kit, and blanket. I actually purchased this kit on Amazon after I took the class Intro to Emergency Management a few months ago.

My responses seem pretty similar to the guidelines provided in the text, but I think one reason why people can react differently is because we are all different! Some people have plans in place and can naturally remain calm during stressful situations. Others who might not be prepared, or just panic easily, will respond a different way.

I think it could also depend on your situation. For example, if a mom had her children with her, she might remain calmer as to not scare the kids. The main reason for the similarities in responses to emergencies is it is just human nature for most people to have the flight or fight response.

Most people will fight to survive! It was interesting to read about the myths in Chapter 8. A lot of people think that the majority of the population will panic and are useless/passive during an emergency situation (Lindell, 2006). In reality, most people try to act in a logical way to help themselves.

Works Cited:

Lindell, M. K., Perry, R. W., Prater, C., & Nicholson, W. C. (2006). Fundamentals of emergency management. Washington, D.C.: FEMA.

#2

Although I haven't directly experienced a hurricane, terrorist incident or home fire, I can imagine what my reaction would be and what I would do to prepare for such events. Living close to D.C., we don't experience hurricanes as often as Florida or coastal cities. We normally get the tropical storm that comes with the hurricane, that can include heavy winds and flooding. In the event of a hurricane, there is normally a warning that it's going to happen. Just like a tropical storm in our area, I would prepare early and buy non-perishable foods/water.

Around our area, we have to prepare for the power to go out in any major storm. Especially living in an apartment building. I most likely would temporarily move our pets and ourselves to my dad's house, where there's a generator. If I did live in an area that was prone to hurricanes, and one occurred, I would evacuate the area if told to do so. People who choose to stay in their homes, depending on the severity of the storm, not only put themselves/families at risk, but emergency personnel at risk. In the event that my home was destroyed, I'm sure that I would go through the initial shock of losing 'everything'.

At the same time, there is usually an increase of mutual support functions among victims and others in stricken communities ( FEMA, 2006 ). In the event of disaster, communities often pull together. I know that this would be the case for my family. I'd do what I could to help other people in the same situation.

In the event of a house fire, I would make sure that everyone was out of the house, including our pets. We have fire detectors in every room of our house. It is so important to make sure that your fire detectors are working properly. It's also important to shut your door when you go to sleep at night, in the event that a fire happens while you're sleeping.

The door won't necessarily keep the fire out, but it will delay it from spreading to that room. It helps suppress the amount of smoke entering the room. There are many preventative measures you can take in your home to prevent this from happening, but sometimes it is out of your control. It's important to have an emergency plan with your family in the event of a fire.

In the event of a terrorist attack, I would flee the immediate area. This would be a specific time where fight or flight would kick in. Yet, in light of Quarantelli's definition of panic, it is difficult to see why anyone would assume that it is anything other than rationalto want to put distance between oneself and a life-threatening event such as a fire, or to move quickly to leave the vicinity of crumbling buildings in an earthquake or terrorist bombing (FEMA, 2006 ).

I would most likely be in a state of shock, not immediately understanding what happened. As an emergency responder, I would like to think that I could work through that shock and help survivors. I think that everyone responds differently when experiencing disaster. There is no right way to go about it. It's natural to experience all types of emotions and responses to the specific event, just as there are stages of grief.

Lindell, M. K., Perry, R. W., Prater, C., & Nicholson, W. C. (2006). Fundamentals of emergency management. Washington, D.C.: FEMA.