Alarm Reaction! It’s Just Surprise – When You are Not Prepared

True Story 1

?Once, a buddy and I were flying in a single-pilot helicopter during monsoon season, continuity training, flying in hilly terrain at 5 to 10 thousand feet (hills up to 3000 feet). I fly, and he operates the radar. With a spate of bad luck, poor planning by us, and poor monitoring by those on the ground, we end up in heavy rain, with nowhere clear of rain to go, including back to the airfield. Then, as I descend below clouds, ?? ?????? ??????????????????????.

The instruments told me we were in a right turn, which my body refused to believe. PC started telling me with an increasing sense of urgency not to turn right into that hill he could see. I was disoriented in the air before. So I got to my instruments properly and tried rolling out of the turn.

What followed were moments of sheer horror!

All my strength could not move my right hand and the cyclic (the stick) to the left. It was as if there was an immense resistance against the force of my hand. A wave of cold fear swept from my toes to the top as I realized I was incapacitated; death was not long away if I didn't do anything in the next few seconds.

I was stuck and doomed to it. Then came magic!!!

The voice of that Aviation Medicine Specialist, who covered a Spatial Disorientation class I attended years ago, came to my mind. He was teaching about the 'Giant Hand Phenomenon,' which was the same phenomenon flying me to certain death at that time.

"Fly with your fingers," he was telling me. As if by reflex, I relaxed the grip on the cyclic, held it lightly with my thumb and forefinger, clicked the trim button, and voila! The cyclic moves, no resistance, no 'Giant Hand' holding my aircraft against my will.

We rolled out of the turn away from the hill and flew back to base on instruments. Buddy and I lived to fly another day.

?True Story 2

An ATC friend of mine was handling Tower frequency. The Approach Controller, to her left, was bringing in an aircraft to 'Finals' over water (coastal airfield). He was about to hand over the aircraft to my friend but saw the radar blip gone. After his call to the aircraft went unanswered, instincts made him realize that the aircraft has crashed.

?He told my friend, "The aircraft has ditched. Start the actions". Watching the scenario unfolding closely, she?immediately turned to her Chief of the Watch and said, "Aircraft ditched, announce on EA system," and turned back to pick up her checklist.

?A few seconds passed with everyone silent in the Tower, including the Chief. She turned to him and found him 'frozen,' with shock written on his face. She shouted, "Chief Saab make the announcement. Aircraft has ditched".

?The Chief remained in silence and shock. So she scrambled to the Emergency Announcement system mic and started making the announcement herself. The Chief snapped out of his freeze and took over the mic for the following report. The team then went back to handling the rescue efforts for the aircrew without any more issues.

Freeze Flight or Fight

We, humans, had a few million years of evolution in the grasslands and jungles of Africa among deadly predators before we started dominating and ruling over the earth. This period instilled in us some innate and automatic responses curated by nature to aid our survival against threats. The most basic of such survival strategies is to execute the Freeze, Flight, or Fight response (or Alarm Reaction), whenever a serious threat, like a lion, is encountered.

Freeze. Seize all bodily movements and stay still. Movement attracts attention. So maybe, the Lion will not notice.

Flight. Oh hell! The Lion has seen me. Time for flight. Prepare the body to run like my life depended on it because it does!

Fight. The Lion has cornered me up this tree and is now climbing up to me—time to fight tooth, nail, and everything else because it's time to live or die.

Effects of Alarm Reaction

As soon as the 'limbic' system of our brain 'perceives' a mortal threat, it initiates the Alarm Reaction. The process involves a rapid series of hormone secretions directed towards precisely one function- maximizing the body's potential to execute 'Flight' and 'Fight.' This process may even mean overriding the normal functioning of many organs otherwise necessary for survival. Some of the physical symptoms are:-

-???????Increase in Heart rate and dilation of vessels to crucial muscle groups and constriction of blood to other less critical organs.

-???????Dilation of the pupil.

-???????Tunnel (Coning of) Vision.

All these and some other effects of Alarm Reaction let the human body perform at its peak?to handle situations like an escape from a lion in the Savanna 100,000 years ago. We don't find many lions and other such predators in Air Traffic Control Towers or cockpits these days. However, our limbic system Alarm Reaction when encountering life-and-death decision-making situations. Such emergencies do not require us to 'freeze' or to prepare muscles for running away; nevertheless, the symptoms of Alarm Reaction appear as if the Lion was real.

Vicious Circle of Alarm Reaction

In the case of high-risk operators like aircrew, the worst symptom of Alarm Reaction?is not the heart rate and visual effects but that of becoming seemingly incapacitated and 'frozen.' The mental situation of a person undergoing an Alarm Reaction deteriorates to being in a 'stuck or frozen' state in the following way:-

?-?????????????????It is triggered during high workload situations with an abnormal occurrence, like an emergency.

-?????????????????The brain needs a quick and basic understanding of the problem to decide on actions.

-?????????????????If the information needed is abstract, ambiguous, or complex - a person needs more time to process it.

-?????????????????The brain subconsciously rejects this extra time needed, resulting in conflict and confusion.

-?????????????????Unless this conflict is resolved - the individual remains stuck and 'frozen.'

-?????????????????The individual enters a rapidly deteriorating Vicious Circle of Alarm Reaction leading to more confusion. They could remain frozen till something or someone snaps them out of it.

?Recovery from Alarm Reaction

Guessing a random response to break out of a frozen state is not an option because arbitrary actions can sometimes be fatal in high-risk tasks. But there are some scientifically sound methods to progressively come out of it into a safe and normal state. The general rules to apply in such situations, like in emergencies, are as follows:-

?-?????????????????We need to give the brain, which is under an extremely high workload, simple, rule-based, step-by-step procedures to follow.

-?????????????????There must not be any complex mental calculation required as part of recovery actions.

-?????????????????The information to be checked or monitored must not be presented in an ambiguous or abstract form. Information needed must preferably be in easily quantifiable numeral, graphical or textual form displayed conspicuously in a readily available form.

-?????????????????Rely on the training received for handling such situations. Pick up and follow Checklists or previously practiced procedures to break out of being 'frozen' without resolution.

?Emergency Practice – A Sacred Duty

During flying training, many instructors warn their pupils to practice emergencies. They warn that even if the pupil is slapped awake in the middle of the night and asked to rattle out the symptoms and actions of any emergency, they should be so well prepped as to start singing it out immediately, without hesitation or errors. There are some scientific reasons to commit emergencies to deep, long-term memory. The chances of safe recovery from emergent situations are zero if an operator fails to break out of Alarm Reaction and remains frozen. All high-risk operators (aircrew, ATC, specialized machinery, vehicle operators) need to know the inner workings of their minds that can aid them during high-stress situations like emergencies and accidents. Let's examine a few such aspects.

?-?????????????????Availability Heuristic. Availability Heuristic is the tendency of the human mind to judge and react to a problem based on a similar or familiar experience available for easy access in long-term memory. The human mind extensively uses Heuristics (mental shortcuts, decision-making, and problem-solving)?whenever it is under a high workload. An Alarm Reaction is such a situation. Any set of actions deeply committed to memory through repeated practice will be readily available for acting out during high-pressure situations like emergencies. The implication is that repeated, regular, and continuous practice of all emergencies is imperative to help the operator snap out of an incapacitating 'frozen' state during an Alarm Reaction.

-?????????????????Visualization. Known as 'Chair Flying' among pilots, Visualization is an essential tool for all high-risk task operators to embed emergency actions deep into the long-term memory. It has been proven that when we visualize actions like throwing a ball or moving a flying control, the subconscious part of the mind processes the experience as real. The brain develops the same reinforced 'procedural memory' (commonly known as muscle memory) as if the person physically performed the practice, even though they merely visualized it in their head. Try to include extremely 'high-fidelity' details about the environment (cockpit, ATC Tower, machinery control room) that involve all five senses, and the visualization exercise improves quality.

-?????????????????Simulators and Simulation. The value of simulators to provide high-quality emergency training in a safe, controlled, and relatively cheap environment is well acknowledged. Their extensive and regular utilization for emergency simulations must be infused into the initial and refresher training and as a standard feature of Operational training. Live simulation during opportunities available during operations must also be critical because there can be no better practice than live scenarios with all the environmental elements directly feeding the operator's five senses. However, except for skill examination purposes by instructors, supervisors, and examiners, to be injected unannounced, such simulations must be well planned and briefed in advance after considering all aspects of the operations. Instructors must pay special attention to avoiding errors during simulation that can affect safety.

When We are Stuck

For some strange reason, panic is the most natural response when we find ourselves incapacitated due to the effects of an Alarm Reaction. Panic is a surefire ingredient that makes the thick soup a definite disaster. Therefore, the first and the most crucial step is taking deep, slow breaths and telling ourselves that there are things more important than fear. Below are a few other tips that can aid the progressive recovery to a safe and normal state.

?-?????????????????When 'Stuck,' acknowledge it and tell ourselves that we need to do the 'Next Important' task.

-?????????????????Find the most critical task to do or parameter to monitor/correct.

- 'Aviate, Navigate, Communicate' is a good generalization for pilots, but the 'Aviate' part must be broken down further in the emergency handling section of the SOP of each aircraft into basic. Step-by-step actions aimed at simplifying decision-making for the operator. Pilots MUST know the reasons for all emergency symptoms and the reasoning behind the steps to be taken.

-?????????????????For Air Traffic Controllers and operators in similar controlling positions, 'Pick up the Checklist' can be a safe first step. Could you start checking off each action one by one?

-?????????????????In the case of high-risk machinery operators, safely stopping the machine using a straightforward emergency stop action may be a reliable starting point for snapping out and carrying out a complete mental and machinery reset.

-?????????????????Keep looking for procedures to follow as laid down in SOPs and continue the actions as trained till you feel a sense of control over the situation and confidence improves.

-?????????????????In all cases, if someone is available nearby, who can take over the task temporarily, then hand over duties and recover in peace. Take over when you get your bearings back.

?When We See Someone Stuck

Another true story:- Once, as a rookie with two stripes, I was on a night approach, in my single-pilot helicopter, to my ship, after a tiresome sortie. I went dangerously low on the glide path. I was fixated on some other light on the ship, mistaking it for the Glidepath Indicator light. The Low Altitude warning started blaring, and I would have probably flown the aircraft straight into the sea in the confusion that ensued. However, my tactical officer was a very experienced aircrew with years in the cockpit and with good prior experience guiding rookie pilots out of soups like these. He, in a very calm and confident voice, called out my name and said, "Up Collective, Up Collective" (the control stick used to gain height in helicopters). He did not shout in panic, "Check Height!" or "We are Low!". He called out the most precise instruction, the exact flying control input, to snap me out of the disorientation and pull?my aircraft out of its controlled flight into disaster. We aborted the approach and landed safely off the next after a while and lived to fly another day.

Here are some general tips if we find someone else frozen in an Alarm Reaction:-

?-??????????????????Do not shout out instructions to an individual frozen in Alarm Reaction, hoping to break them out. It only increases the confusion.

-?????????????????If feasible and safe, take over their duty calmly and confidently.

-?????????????????If not, calmly read out instructions verbatim from the SOP. DO NOT use non-standard terminology not taught during training, as it increases the mental workload for interpretation.

-?????????????????Continuously assist the individual by anticipating their actions and prompting if required. Take over peripheral tasks like external communication, visual watch, etc. Continue this until the individual returns to a normal state of functioning.

?References

1. Explanation of Behavior:?The Triune Brain in Evolution. Role in Paleocerebral Functions. Paul D. MacLean. Plenum, New York, 1990

2. Amos Tversky, Daniel Kahneman, Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability, Cognitive Psychology, Volume 5, Issue 2, 1973, ISSN 0010-0285, https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(73)90033-9.

3. Predoiu, Radu & Predoiu, Alexandra & Mitrache, Georgeta & Firanescu, Madalina & Cosma, Germina & Dinuta, Gheorghe & Bucuroiu, Razvan. (2020). Visualization techniques in sport - the mental road map for success. 59. 245-256. 10.35189/dpeskj.2020.59.3.4.