Safety in Numbers: How Human Beings React to Fire

Safety in numbers: How human beings react to fire

There are several kinds of people's behavior in emergencies.

It is generally accepted that there are two incomprehensive views in the academic models of people's behavior. Firstly, in the urgent circumstance, it is claimed that people would like to choose approximately identical behavior to face or response for the emergency event. The identical behavior includes the same mode of thinking, response speed and survival ways. Secondly, it is believed that people cannot calm down and react logically in the critical situation. What's more, basically, people often react slowly to the fire alarm in the urgent situation. A study has showed that poor response time is owed to the fact that people has a responsibility for doing something. It means that people is taking charge for something under certain circumstance, even they would not like to be interrupted or dropped out by emergencies (Perry, 2004). Perry also found the second reason that why people would not pay serious attention to the actual critical situation. That is due to the fact that some crude methods, such as breaking windows in survival, make people nervous or anxiety. What is more, Laver (2000) has confirmed that one cause for delayed response to the fire alarm could be that people react directly to protect their treasures or try their best to save family members' lives rather than escape from the emergency exits in the urgent event. For this reason, the stream of people returning into the building blocks off the escape way for evacuees, which could bring about the serious disaster.

Besides, even facing the enough routines or exits for escape, people still have a strong preference to make a choice on the regular or conventional route. This situation was happened in Cocoanut Grove Fire incident in 1942. Sine the majority of people chose the same main door for getting away, which is far beyond the actual capacity of door, they were all stuck in the burning building resulting in large number of death. It should point out that people would keep or maintain the kind nature of mankind and social responsibility even in the dangerous circumstance. There is no doubt that people would care about each other and try their best to help people who have difficulties get out of the tough situation. Barker (1997) has suggested that it is worth to notice that this harmonious and reliable social relationship would be broken down in the extreme dangerous, risky and threatening situation. Lastly, due to the fact that people all exist as a simple individual, it is natural that people have different characteristics, preferences, choices and behaviors. Thus, people could react, act or behave differently in the emergency events. These differences could result in either successful survival or death.