Always know when and how to escape

In 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Ohio burned to the ground. It was a large building, standing in its own grounds. It consisted of various ballrooms, bars and dining facilities. People held wedding receptions and other functions there. On that night in 1977, there were about three thousand people--customers and staff--in the building.

A member of the staff noticed that a small fire had begun and began to notify the staff and the customers. The building did not have the sophisticated fire alarm systems that buildings have now, and the staff had to go to each room and tell people to leave because there was a fire.

Some people left immediately, others took a little more time to leave, and (amazingly) others just sat at their tables and continued with what they were doing. Some people, it is said, even ordered another round of drinks. It may have been the last thing that some of them did.

Around 167 people died in the fire. When firefighters eventually put out the flames and walked through the wreckage, they found a few people who had died, sitting at their tables.

Why didn't they try to escape?

I think there may be a couple of reasons:

First, some people just don't believe that something bad will happen to them. You may even know somebody who, when you remind them to put on their seatbelt in the car, or to not walk home alone late at night, or to not hitch-hike, will simply dismiss your concerns and say, "It'll be OK. Don't worry." As if you're nuts to even think about the possibility of danger.

Second, there are people who have no real understanding of the concept of being aware of their surroundings and never give a thought to their own safety.

In either case, when they are confronted with a situation they cannot ignore, such as a fire in the building where they are, they are forced to go through three mental and emotional phases. First, the go into denial (this cannot possibly be happening to me!); when they finally accept that it is happening to them, they go into phase two, deliberation (what do I do now?); and finally, in phase three, they do whatever it is they decided on in phase two (action).

The problem is that this mental exersize takes time. And if they take too long to figure out what it is they should be doing, they run out of time and they die.

It is far better to have developed a simple plan before it is ever needed. In the example above, anyone who visited the supper club for the first time should have made a note of the location of the exits and been aware that in the event of a fire (or any other physical threat) they could, and should simply leave by the nearest exit as quickly as possible.

This isn't rocket science. It's just a question of being aware of your surroundings, coming up with a very simple plan to deal with whatever situation may be a possible threat, and to know what event will trigger you putting that plan into action.

For example: "I can see two ways to get out of this restaurant in addition to the way I came in. If there is a fire in the restaurant I will leave immediately by whichever exit will get me outside the quickest and easiest."

Once you have a plan, you can go ahead and enjoy your meal, knowing that you have a way out if you need it.