Reviews of civilian behaviour in emergencies find the same errors in every country and every kind of incident.
- Going to look. Curiosity kills a predictable number of people in every incident. Whatever it is, it is not worth seeing.
- Going back in. For a pet, a phone, a laptop, a passport. Almost nothing is worth re-entering a damaged or burning building.
- Driving. Roads jam within minutes and stationary traffic is the worst possible place to be during almost anything. Do not drive unless your authorities are telling you to.
- Waiting to be told twice. People routinely delay evacuating because they want confirmation. The confirmation is the instruction you already received.
- Forwarding without checking. Covered in lesson two, and it remains the most common single failure.
- Using the phone for voice. Saturates the network for everybody including the emergency services.
- Assuming it is over. Second collapses, secondary devices, aftershocks, gas leaks and fire all arrive after the thing that caused them.