In case of emergency... what is YOUR drill?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

We all have practice drills for various emergencies and know our specific roles if a real emergency were to take place.

If a REAL emergency was occuring ...let's use fire for the example... and you could feel fire and smoke engulfing the work area .. could you forgo self -preservation?

Could you even remember the evacuation plan.. or would you run for YOUR life?

Pesonally I feel, if the place is gonna blow, I am no longer a nurse. I need to protect my life . Let security ,the firefighters, police, National Guard , deal with the disaster. I am outta there.

Let the flaming begin...

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I think you may be surprised at what you would do in an emergency. My personal experience has been limited - 1 fire, several hurricanes, 2 tornado warnings, 3 episodes of 'violence in ED' ... but never once do I recall feeling "save myself first" as an initial reaction. Even when we had to carry patients down darkened stairwells, everyone was working together - just as we had practiced in the drills.

Human nature is unpredictable. Contrast the reaction of movie goers in Colorado recently & the sinking cruise ship earlier in the year. Some people automatically tried to help/shield even at the cost of their own safety while others just abandoned their loved ones and made a run for it. You'll probably never know until it happens. However, in the case of an emergency in your workplace - if you run for it, your behavior is judged by a completely different standard. You have a legally defined duty to your patients and skeedaddling would constitute patient abandonment. So there would certainly be legal repercussions.