When A Crises Hits
Joel Elveson
My successes as a recruiter are intertwined with the achievements of those I have helped.
When A Crisis Hits
By Jo
It is now the wee hours of the morning when all is at calm. Everybody is tucked into his or her beds and presumably fast asleep. In a flash all that is destroyed by a loud piercing alarm or perhaps the howl of a dog barking out its warning that all is not well. You jump out of bed half-awake semi-conscious at best. It is then you see &/or hear the crises that are unfolding before you either on television, radio or worse yet in your own home.
Where do you turn next? What should you do now? Being in a crises situation calls for calm rationale thinking which if you are in the midst of chaos and confusion is nearly impossible to do but necessary to prevent loss of life or limb. You try your hardest to feel the effects of the fear you are feeling but at the same time forcing your mind to focus on what rational move you should make.
Where do you turn when facing a crisis?
In the case of a hurricane that is upon you warning was no doubt given to you so that you can prepare properly via securing everything so that they don’t become unguided missiles heading for your windows or worse yet your head. Why didn’t you pay attention to the forecasters along with the Coast Guard, National Guard or other such organization? What was the sky telling you as you looked up? You have by your own neglect or carelessness have put yourself and others at risk.
What if a crisis that is not related to weather such as a lost child or a mentally unstable individual prowling your neighborhood in search of prey. Where do you turn in these situations? In the case of the missing child, there is a national alert system (amber alert I believe it’s called) not to mention your local police. Where was the child seen last and by whom? Have there been any reports of suspicious people or vehicles seemingly just hanging around and watching children at play? Your local police should have been notified of this event. Organize neighborhood patrols just after you check with the child’s friends to see if he or she is there or was there and when they left. Young children should never be left to their own device or in other words unless they are in a group with other children should not be walking around the streets minus an adult or mature teenager or left unsupervised in a playground where they should always be within clear eye view of their caregiver or babysitter.
Of the crises stemming from sighting of known child sex offenders or other violent societal misfits, this crisis calls yet again for neighborhood mobilization in addition to local law enforcement officials. To avoid adding a crisis on top of a crisis never try to confront a potentially armed mentally unstable person on your own. Nor should you do so as a group. All it takes is one bullet from a crazed gunman’s gun to end the life of a parent, child or cop. These situations call for professionally trained crises management professionals.
The crises of a family being ripped apart as warring spouses conducting hate-filled arguments that often turn physically abusive in front of the children. Two level-headed (the key terms here are level headed) adults should know how to settle their differences in such a manner that the children are not hurt physically or emotionally. When marital therapy in conjunction with words of advice from a religious leader (Rabbi, Priest, etc.) perspective as to what to do fail to resolve the simmering feud between the two partners divorce is sadly the only recourse. Try to make the children understand both parents love them and will see to it they in a stable home with either parent whom the court feels would be the most nurturing environment for the children. At times joint custody is a viable solution. As heated as things get the children should not be allowed to manipulate one parent against the other in an apparent exercise to gain some sense of control over the situation for themselves.
When sudden illness strikes (especially in the middle of the night) once again in your semi-conscious state try to instantly and decisively take action. If the person has stopped breathing or is having difficulty breathing perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. In the event, you are ill-equipped to do so carefully follow the instructions that 911 personnel will give you. Any sudden signs of heart trouble with or without a history the first call should be to 911. Elderly people should have a Life Alert tag or button to push or a string they can pull that is accessible in these types of situations. No matter what age you are or what your domestic living situation is having a list of doctors, medications, and allergies to medications in a conspicuous place so that EMT can see it and proceed accordingly is critical to prevent possible loss of life.
Crises will happen in life. Some crises can be averted by planning ahead and being prepared. Other times a crisis will strike you in many different ways. Have you given thought to some of the most likely crises to hit your life and how you will deal with them? If you have not you are turning what could be a manageable crisis into one of epic proportions that unnecessarily spiraled out of control.
In the last album John Lennon ever recorded before a crazed violent “fan” or somebody of that genre’ took his life via bullet a song bearing the title “Beautiful Boy” was one of the tracks on the album that mesmerized all who carefully listened and absorbed the lyric line “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” To digress for a moment from the subject at hand this lyric line was quoted at my son’s high school graduation back in 2004. Hearing this song always causes my eyes to swell with tears.
Nothing I have written in this article is earth-shattering or contains advice you have not heard before. My aim in presenting this information to you is to get you to focus (not all consuming) on the fact that you have to be prepared for what-if scenarios. Most of us think we have covered all bases (it is still baseball season hence the use of a baseball analogy) when in fact when that precise moment that a crisis hits lack of preparation or at least passing thoughts of preparation evaporate in your mind as quickly as steam vapors.
When a crisis hits………
Lawyer, Law Teacher, CEO of a Multinational Credit Sector, Consultant, BZC Contributor
7 年The difficult moments come because it is necessary that it be so. Being able to get out of it does not mean running away from them, but accepting them. With the difficult moments, new teachings come from outside and from ourselves. These are unmissable opportunities for growth. The more one tries to resist and oppose difficulties, the more distant one will be from solving them. Better always to choose to see that difficulty as a challenge for our growth, an opportunity to learn more about ourselves or to develop our patience. We are the architects of our thoughts and of our way of seeing the world. The way we deal with one or more problems when they arise depends on us.