Hey all I just came across an emergency situation irl that I felt useless in because of how slowly I was thinking. Basically it was someone getting an epileptic seizure and I had the info in my head for what to do but I did end up freezing a bit before I did anything. Really didn’t like it. The person is fine now but if I had reacted faster, we might have been able to prevent a couple problems.
I’ve been in other emergencies before where I had to call the shots but I guess I want to think faster and keep it consistent at a higher level, and I want to improve on it for future scenarios, but what can I do to do that?
Edit: Just wanted to say thanks for everyone’s replies, I’ll be looking into a routine to acclimate myself with these kinds of situations
Good question and self-reflection on your side!
The other people here are correct. You need to sign up for a first-aid / first-responder course.
It is practice and rehearsal. I did an extensive training back when I was a first responder. We learned what to do and the steps not to forget, sentences to memorize all of that. And then we had to exercise for days, do it over and over again. And that’s what makes these procedures available to you. Especially in emergency situations where adrenaline is rushing in, emotions are on a high level, somebody is seriously hurt and bystanders are distracting everyone. Theoretical knowledge sometimes useless in those situations. The human body isn’t made to think very thoroughly when overwhelmed by adrenaline. You need to have a feeling for what you’re doing, have the mnemonic appear immediately in your head, the procedure stored in your muscle memory and remember what you did the last 3 times when that happened.
Go to an organization and do a course. If you can, do a 2-day one (if that’s available in your country.) The short ones don’t really focus on practice.
And it’s a nice skill to have, anyways.