Could You be a Hero...Acting in an Emergency©

 

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I was recently reading some old online magazines, when I came across, Harry Kursh’s article “Could You Be A Hero?”, in a 1957 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, and it got me to thinking about how people act in emergencies.  I’ve always heard, and taught the rule of thumb, that 33% of the people in an emergency freeze up and can’t act, 33% don’t know what to do, but if told what to do can act, and 33% can act independently.  

 

Studies tend to back this up, although the percentages are different than in my rule of thumb.  For example, a poll from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that “While three-quarters (76%) of adults in the United States feel prepared to communicate with 911 operators in an emergency, only slightly more than half (55%) feel prepared to provide hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Slightly less than half (46%) of respondents feel prepared to apply a tourniquet to control severe bleeding, or move a victim to safety (47%), and fewer than a third (29%) feel prepared to use an automatic external defibrillator (AED)”.

 

Responding in an emergency isn’t about being without fear.  The truly brave person is afraid but acts anyways.  It isn’t about a lack of fear, it is about controlling that fear and not letting it control you.

 

And it is a known fact that the more training you’ve had, the more likely you will react correctly during an emergency.  For example, in a medical emergency, more than 80% of those with first aid training will respond to a medical emergency.

 

 

Have you ever been in an emergency?  Do you know where you fall on this rule of thumb?  Do you need more training?  Do you need to become more acclimatized to stressful situations?  Would you jump in and act in an emergency?  You’ll never really know until you are tested, but this is an interesting survey that might give you a hint.  Let’s find out.

 

Complete the survey created by Harry Kursch, see below, and find your hero score.  The scoring is at the end of this article, above the sources.

 

So how did you do?  So how did you do?  Remember acting in an emergency is about pushing through fear and acting even when you are scared.  It’s also about having the training and the knowledge to act in the situation and act correctly.  So learn to conquer your fears and get training, especially in self-defense (make sure it includes live sparring) and first aid.

 

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

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That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

 

American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP); “Nearly Half of U.S. Adults are Unprepared to Help in a Medical Emergency, January 18, 2023, https://www.emergencyphysicians.org/press-releases/2023/1-18-23-nearly-half-of-u.s.-adults-are-unprepared-to-help-in-a-medical-emergency, accessed August 1, 2026

 

Kursh, Harry; “Could You Be A Hero?”, Mechanix Illustrated, August 1957, Vol. 53, No. 8, [Fawcett Publications, Inc.; Greenwich CN], https://archive.org/details/mechanix-illustrated-195708/page/n3/mode/2up, accessed August 1, 2026