Danger can come out of nowhere, bringing plenty of fear and panic. However, it is important to keep a level head to address the situation. Those initial moments can inhibit your logic, putting you in further danger. Identify these potential emergencies and learn how you can keep calm.
What Counts as an Emergency?
The exact definition of an emergency is quite loose, as it is described as an unexpected and urgent situation. Some more immediate examples include natural disasters, such as residential fires. Fire departments in the U.S. addressed a fire every 21 seconds in 2022. Many small- and large-scale occurrences can spark panic.
Another example of a crisis is floods and storms. These events happen outside your control, and losing such a sense of power can catch you off guard. However, as dangerous as those events are, you must stay calm to save yourself from them.
Emergencies don’t always have to be life-or-death situations. Sometimes, they encompass fearful situations. For example, employees can panic at rumors of layoffs, and investors may feel alarmed about a market crash.
Pre-Emergency Preparedness
Keeping calm in an emergency is easier when you’re prepared since you won’t be caught off guard by the unexpected. You can be as thorough as possible to give yourself peace of mind.
Anticipate the Most Likely Emergencies
Emergencies can happen almost anywhere. However, location can play a significant factor in the likelihood of a natural disaster. For example, states with warmer climates are more prone to wildfires. Hurricanes impact coastal communities more than those living further inland.
Keep calm by anticipating and preparing for those situations. Coming to terms with them can help you keep a level head and take appropriate action rather than going straight into panic mode.
Set up Different Systems
Navigating a crisis is easier when the right operations and products are ready. For example, a fire alarm system can detect fires around the clock and alert occupants. It can also activate HVAC and communication systems to mitigate the situation through automated smoke prevention and notifications to local alarm monitoring operators.
You should also have a first-aid kit with thermometers, bandages, gauze pads and medication. Keep nonperishable snacks and a water supply on hand.
Review Emergency Procedures
You must also review emergency procedures. If a natural disaster does occur, how would you respond? What is your evacuation plan? Do you and your loved ones have a game plan to stay safe together?
Practice drills to ensure everyone in your household understands their responsibility if a crisis occurs. Seeing how well you can communicate with each other is also a good way to reassure yourself that you will get through an emergency.
Keeping Calm in the Moment
It’s important to stay calm during an emergency. It’s challenging since there’s so much information to process during crises, but it’s critical to keeping your physical and mental well-being intact.
Focus on Mindfulness and Grounding
It’s natural to have a sudden burst of adrenaline, with some people gravitating toward either fight, flight or freeze. The most important thing is to be present in the heat of the moment. Practice grounding yourself with self-talk to pull yourself together.
Mindfulness exercises, such as breathing techniques, are also crucial. Emergencies can trigger high stress, and you must manage those emotions to maintain a rational thought process. Take deep breaths and concentrate.
Practice Adaptive Thinking
Adaptive thinking refers to people’s ability to shift their thoughts when exposed to new information. In a crisis, you must quickly process your environment and navigate to secure your physical safety.
Freezing up is natural, but you have to make yourself respond appropriately. The average reaction time to visual stimulus is about 250 milliseconds, but it can go as low as 190 milliseconds with training. Fulfill your emergency procedures as planned, but be flexible with your plans to solve the problem if necessary.
Connect With Your Support
Every person needs to realize they are not alone in an emergency. If you have family with you, it’s important to connect with them to discuss how you can escape a crisis. Knowing they’re safe can bring relief and trigger calmness. You can also rely on external support like fire emergency services or flood rescue teams.
Where Is the Fear Coming From?
Before understanding how to keep calm in an emergency, assessing what you’re afraid of and why is paramount. Fear is a universal emotion, but people have different triggers for it.
Observational Learning
Observational learning is perceiving the environment around you and developing emotions from that information. People learn to be fearful about what they see, even if they haven’t directly undergone the situation themselves.
For example, you see news clippings of a fire’s impact on a neighborhood. Seeing how people can lose their homes and loved ones can ingrain a fear of those disasters. As a result, it can be hard to keep calm at the sight of flames.
Traumatic History
Experiencing traumatic events yourself can also be a gateway for fear in certain situations. When you have gone through something stressful, reliving it in your mind can feel awful. Having to go through it again is even worse.
For example, say you had to file for bankruptcy a few years ago. You start up a new business to get yourself to financial recovery. It’s natural to be distressed if you face problems that may lead to another closure.
Hereditary Factors
While your exposure and environment are the main contributors to your lack of calm, it may also come from biological factors. It is theorized that anxiety is 30% inherited, with one-fifth of Americans dealing with an anxiety disorder each year.
Fear of specific situations or objects may not be acquired directly. Nevertheless, heightened emotions can make you more susceptible to panic when exposed to emergencies. If this is your source of phobia, it’s best to seek counseling to come to terms with and work through it. Ongoing research explores these biological links, including fields like genetic testing for mental illness, which aims to better understand predispositions to conditions like anxiety disorders.
Stress Response in Emergencies
Every person reacts to an emergency differently. Generally, their senses create a distress signal to the hypothalamus. The body’s nervous system then gains a rush of adrenaline, which serves as the energy source for a stress response.
Fight
Some people gravitate toward the fight response, which makes them stand their ground and face the danger head-on. This reaction usually comes from a strong sense of defense or a preference for confrontation.
The fight response is powerful for problem-solving. However, the urge to argue or brawl can come from a place of rage, which can cloud your line of thinking. It’s vital to regulate the fight response to have logical energy.
Flight
Others may prefer fleeing over fighting. Nonconfrontational individuals desire to remove themselves from a situation and escape the threat or conflict.
Flight could be a better choice since it focuses on escaping danger. However, the body can take time to react. Running may also lead you to forget others you want to protect since you’re focused on saving yourself first.
Freeze
Fight or flight are the two most common reactions to an emergency, but some people freeze up. Fear can trigger a state of paralysis, with individuals hoping the situation and threat will pass if they don’t engage or escape.
Some people freeze before launching into fight-or-flight mode. Others may stay immobilized until the end of the crisis. This choice is tricky as you remain in the line of danger and gamble on the chance the situation will end on its own.
Recovering From Emergencies
Getting through the emergency is a relief but can be incredibly exhausting. While your body may go unscathed, it’s important to pay attention to your mental state. Recovery is key to keeping your emotions in check.
Reflect on Lessons
People can have flashbacks and replay the scenario in their heads. Recognizing and taking pride in getting through or averting the crisis is important. Look back at the memory and consider what you could have done differently. These insights are valuable to improve future emergency preparedness and responses.
Undergo Self-Care
Destressing from emergencies is crucial. You may still be holding tension from the experience, so it’s critical to release it with self-care activities. For example, 30 minutes of walking daily can boost your mood and health.
Consider writing about the whole experience. Putting your thoughts to paper can help you clarify what your mind was going through then. You can even have profound realizations like how you reacted and whether you were good at leading.
Consider Counseling
Debriefing on your own can only provide you with personal information. It can be helpful to seek a counselor who can break down the situation for you through a psychological lens. They can also assist you through your emotional recovery and get you back on your feet.
Work on cognitive-behavior techniques to ensure your stress response to emergencies is up to par. For example, cognitive restructuring can shift negative thoughts into more balanced ones.
Stay Calm in Emergencies
Learning to keep calm in an emergency is vital. It could mean the difference between staying safe and putting yourself in peril. Take care of yourself by learning to regulate your response and keep a level head.
Author Bio
Jack Shaw is a senior writer and editor at Modded, where he passionately explores the intricate connections between physical health, mental well-being, and the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for crafting engaging content, Jack’s articles offer valuable insights into living a balanced and fulfilling life.
