Why Do Some People Ignore Alarms and Sirens During Emergencies? Special

Portland - One of the critical concerns in disaster preparedness is the fact some people might not respond to warnings. Why is it that some people ignore emergency warnings and sirens?

On Saturday night at the Outback Steakhouse in the Gresham area near Portland, a large crowd was hustled out the doors, following several minutes of loud, buzzer-like alarms with flashing lights. Customers paid no attention to the warnings as they continued with their dinners and conversations. It wasn't until food servers passed by the tables and ordered people out the door, that people began to exit. A crowd of people streamed out the restaurant door and waited until the entire building, including nearby shops, had been evacuated. Finally an all-clear signal was given, and folks trooped back into shops and the Outback Restaurant. The reason for the alarm was explained as a false trigger from a shop where various electrical switches and outlets were being constructed. The alarm had been set of accidentally, but the device was meant as an emergency measure for customers and as a preventative measure against possible serious consequences to people in the area in the event of a fire or similar catastrophe.

Carol Forsloff

These people sat and waited for restaurant personnel to ask them to leave a restaurant, after waiting several minutes while alarms were going off.

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What does it say when people continue to sit and continue activities as they would normally in spite of siren warnings? This came on a day when there had been tsunami warnings issued for the Pacific region following an earthquake in Chile. Were folks simply suffering disaster fatigue or was this something else? The phenomenon is found by fire officials who have wondered why people don't respond to alarms. In addition to the fact that alarms have become commonplace and there is debate about how well such a system actually communicates danger, experts maintain there are other considerations such as these: Task persistence. People do not like to be interrupted. The remote possibility that there could be a fire is often not a good enough reason. Denial and avoiding anxiety. People want to avoid the feelings of anxiety that dangers evoke and may therefore avoid interpeting the signal as meaning real danger. Social roles. Folks tend to respond to alarms the way other people around them do. Children are taught to evacuate in school settings, but adults may not respond in the same way because of certain cultural complexities. Risk perceptions. Response is associated with risk perception. Many people, for example, may not perceive how quickly a minor fire can turn into a conflagration or a minor incident into something devastating. But the waitress explained it thus: "I just can't figure out why people sat there either. But it was just an accident, and maybe some people thought it was. But you never know do you?"

Carol Forsloff

The waitress, Shelby Burleigh, informed the customers at the Outback Steadkhouse the warning alarms were set off by accident and didn't know why people sat there while the alarms were blaring.

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