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Reviewed by Allen Appel, HSO Contributor The True Golden Hour By Hayim Granot. The Key Publishing. $50.00 This book was born during the Gulf War and shaped by subsequent hostile events, the first and second Intifada, suicide bombers, the 2006 Lebanon War, in which Israel's northern residents were bombarded by a rain of missiles and the eight year bombardment of the residents of Sederot, just outside Hamas controlled Gaza. |
Reviewed by
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, HSO Contributor
The True Golden Hour
By Hayim Granot, The Key Publishing. $50.00
This book was born during the Gulf War and shaped by subsequent hostile events, the first and second Intifada, suicide bombers, the 2006 Lebanon War, in which Israel's northern residents were bombarded by a rain of missiles and the eight year bombardment of the residents of Sederot, just outside Hamas controlled Gaza.
If any state can qualify for the unenviable title of Most Subjected to Every-day Terrorism, it would probably be modern Israel. Granot moved from the U.S. to Israel in 1970 to teach at the School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University where he established the Mass Emergencies Project. His years of teaching and study have given him an in-depth knowledge of the subject of this book: How ordinary people behave in the face of emergencies and disasters.
Granot's primary thesis is that many officials continue to believe in a set of myths regarding individual and social reaction to sudden threat, and that those myths lead emergency response organizations into actions that are very often counterproductive to the promotion of public safety.
This book was born during the Gulf War and shaped by subsequent hostile events, the first and second Intifada, suicide bombers, the 2006 Lebanon War, in which Israel's northern residents were bombarded by a rain of missiles and the eight year bombardment of the residents of Sederot, just outside Hamas controlled Gaza. The central point of the book is how individuals cope with crisis when their social environment as a whole is also in turmoil, Granot says.
After an examination of the causes and characteristics of emergencies and their effects, Granot gets down to the specifics of what he considers to be the myths of emergency situations. Read the following and decide if the statements are true or false.
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Panic. A significant portion of the population will panic under the threat to survival.
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Evacuation. Authorities must prepare for the complicated task of organizing an orderly evacuation and provide safe shelter for displaced residents.
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Collapse of Community Services. Services will be overwhelmed by increased demand and staffers and their families will be directly affected.
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Self Centered, Antisocial Behavior. Moral judgment will impaired because of a survive-at-all-costs mentality. Looting and rioting will result.
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Morale and Mental Health. Demoralization and depression are the results of sudden disasters. Many are likely to suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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Public Information. Because the public is inclined to panic, (see number one) public information must be closely monitored and even censored.
Granot contends that studies of available resources prove that each of these supposed tenets is, in fact, false. Each of these myths is carefully examined and corrected.
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People do not generally panic in extreme situations. Most, however, regain their ability to function in the worst of circumstances, according to their backgrounds and experience. They save themselves, those dear to them and if possible, neighbors, friends and nearby strangers. They are far from shocked, helpless, passive victims waiting to be saved by emergency search and rescue teams.
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Technological and social developments, as well as experiences in many countries, cast doubt on the conventional wisdom of maintaining expensive emergency shelters for dislocated populations or the local stockpiling of emergency supplies for use in lesser emergencies. Public sheltering arrangements appear to be unnecessary in most emergencies. Most victims of disaster will make their own arrangements even in the case of massive relocation. There is no evidence that organized evacuations save time, run more smoothly or cause fewer accidents by self-evacuation by private car.
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The total collapse of community systems is quite rare.
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The media footage of Katrina seems to show a general breakdown in moral behavior, but further study shows this breakdown of law and order was wildly exaggerated. Not one case of rape was found. Violent deaths in the wake of the storm were no more frequent than usual in the city. Although some opportunistic robbery did occur, most looting in the early days was for desperately needed food and equipment required for survival.
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Few victims of disaster should require the intervention of mental health professionals to recover from the impact.
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The more accurate the information made available to the public, the more likely it is to respond with maturity, less hysteria and more wisdom. It therefore seems prudent for emergency response agencies to adopt policies of openness in their communications with the public.
Granot backs up each refutation of the common myths with annotated references to research conducted on the relevant topic. And, in fact, this listing of resources is one of the more valuable aspects of the book, allowing serious researchers to go back to primary sources for more detail if desired.
On the minus side, the structure of the book is haphazard which in places leads to repetition, and the author's attempt to provide a title catchphrase for his theories The True Golden Hour is neither necessary nor does it make much sense.
The HSO Takeaway: This is a useful tool for anyone whose professional responsibility is emergency response and civil defense. While it is always difficult to alter entrenched positions, rethinking long-held but erroneous official measures could lead to faster, more efficient and effective guidelines.
Allen Appel is a book and media reviewer who lives and works in Washington, DC. He specializes in reviewing thriller fiction and homeland security and terrorism issues.
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