Dr. Perrodin shares a fun set of anecdotes as he ultimately reflects upon his most impactful podcasts of 2017, acknowledges leadership lessons from Custer’s last stand and closes with an argument that, on many fronts, we are living in the best of times. EPISODE TOPICS: Driving my aunt to pay her property taxes in a city I’m not familiar with | Snowstorm averted | Pickup truck is not a fire engine | Sardines and dumbbells | Reflecting upon the top Safety Doc Podcasts of 2017 | Custer’s 20-year-old soldiers in 80-year-old bodies | Not a blanket statement, but we certainly live in the best of times.  IN CUSTER WE TRUST – THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAFETY & TRUST (Per Neal St. Anthony, 2011) “One hundred forty years ago, George Armstrong Custer split his exhausted Seventh Cavalry of 660 troopers into several autonomous units, issued vague orders as the units dispersed and charged headlong into well-armed Northern Cheyenne and Lakota Sioux warriors at the Little Big Horn River in Montana. It was a management disaster, to say the least, for Custer & Co. Custer presided over a classical, dysfunctional leadership team," said Jeff Appelquist, author, entrepreneur, former Best Buy corporate manager and onetime Marine infantry lieutenant who has turned Custer's demise into an award-winning book and on-site management seminars. Custer was offensive-minded, had good tactical sense and had led a charmed military life," Appelquist said. But the legendary brevet major general "lacked the trust of key lieutenants, did not build a common purpose, was not at all aware of his own faults. He did not communicate or adapt well. Those Indian warriors, about 1,500, turned out in force to protect their families and land. Custer was surrounded and worn down and destroyed." FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts RSS feed. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com  David will respond to comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety.  To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com

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Panic is far from being the typical reaction to disaster. Dr. Perrodin explains 8 findings about disaster response that doesn't fit the typical narrative. For example, contagion behavior is simply copying the behavior of others and often leads to a suboptimal outcome - so stop and recognize ALL options! He describes that crowd violence is seldom random and what "freezing" really means. ANECDOTES: Dr. Perrodin shares entertaining anecdotes of tacky Christmas inflatables, his reasons for migrating to PodBean, tinkering with his new ZoomH4Npro, why virtual reality fieldtrips in schools will be all the rage and vulnerable to delivering political or social agendas and further painting formative years reconnaissance as being dangerous (this is spurious logic) and how singularity will save at least 30,000 lives in the US annually in just 25 years by decreasing vehicle fatalities by 90%. David also shares a lesser known life story of GM / Frigidaire founder William Durant, his fiscal, psychological and health collapses, and how his final years were spent flipping burgers at a bowling alley in Michigan. To inform this episode, Dr. Perrodin explores “The mass psychology of disasters and emergency evacuations: A research report and implications for practice (2007)” by Dr. John Drury & Dr. Chris Cocking - Department of Psychology - University of Sussex. COMMUNICATION IN A DISASTER MAKES OR BREAKS THOSE IN AUTHORITY. Downplaying the importance of meaningful communication with the (irrational) crowd may develop a distrust of the authorities. In turn, this may mean valid information may be ignored or not acted upon by the public in the future. PEOPLE EXIT WHERE THEY ENTERED. People tend to seek to exit the same way they entered - even when a marked exit might be closer - it is not a familiar or intended route. Due to most people having rusty situational awareness, they often do not recognize the emergency and act quickly enough. It’s easier, but not smarter, to simply be led (follow). WHAT REALLY IS “FREEZING”? Freezing during a disaster takes two forms: (1) Literally not acting – freezing, and (2) Becoming disassociated or psychologically distanced from the reality of what is happening and waste time inappropriately tidying desks, organizing areas, waiting to power down computers. This is basically a defense mechanism of expecting life to return to the expected torus, or what is normal. It is a failure to acknowledge a state of chaos – and chaos actually presents options to those that accept that the disruption of the torus. CONTAGION BEHAVIOR – NEVER JUST GO WITH THE CROWD. Contagion behavior is simply copying the behavior of others. If you looked were in a crowd and people suddenly began to run in a direction, with a sense of panic, most would follow - yet not knowing the cause or without evaluating options.  One person who appears to present with confidence and be informed can lead others to a suboptimal outcome that they would have never selected without infected by the contagion. LESS THAN 1% OF PEOPLE PANIC. Panic is far from being the typical reaction to a disaster. In fact, it has been noted in .8% of cases including the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945 and the September 11, 2001 WTC attacks. Dr. Perrodin illuminated 3 flaws in “The Panic Model”. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts RSS feed. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com  David will respond to comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com

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PODCAST-Research Findings from the War of the Worlds Hysteria and the Reluctance by the Most Fearful People to Confirm Statements and How This Still Happens Today | Additional Perspectives on Parents Nixing the DC 8th Grade Class Trip Due to Terrorist Attacks Fears | David Loved Working at Menards in College | Mr. Meeseeks is 6-6. CANCELING THE 8th GRADE CLASS TRIP TO DC - THE PARENTS’ PERSPECTIVE. As expressed in last week’s show, David felt that parents in a school district near Cleveland made a collectively poor decision by asking administration to cancel an 8th grade class trip to Washington DC due to fears of a mass shooting or terror attack. Yes, children are the most valuable assets of parents and a compelling sense of “protection” is natural. However, when such protective measures create a mini-verse youth are provided a negatively-skewed perception that the nation (not the world) is on the omni-present cusp of attack. People tend to double down when they are afraid. Dr. Perrodin saw this first hand as a school administrator and that visceral feeling is impenetrable to empirical science with no guarantee that something won’t happen - and people want that guarantee. An interesting statistical take-away from a bus trip to and from DC is that a student has roughly the same probability of perishing in a bus accident than via an attack - and both are very rare instances - less likely than being struck by lightning. THE SAFETY CONTEXT WAS FRACTURED THE PAST 2 MONTHS. Let’s look deeper into the anatomy of panic - and this is the state David deemed the parents to be in a few weeks ago when thwarting the DC trip with raw recall of the Vegas shooting, Manhattan bike / walkway attack by vehicle, Sutherland Springs and ongoing saber rattling from North Korea. WE’VE BEEN THROUGH UNCERTAIN TIMES BEFORE. Dr. Perrodin shares that his Mother was a child during WWII and she recalls air raid drills - diving under desks and “blackouts” at night - which were especially scary as she imagined German bombers descending into Wisconsin from Canada. Wisconsin was home to the largest munitions factory during the war - located near Baraboo / Sauk City. The narrative was plausible. Also, Britain’s citizens were remarkable robust during WWII - out during the day and orderly cued to shelters per wailing air raid sirens. It’s a different context and such, but there are lessons from our past. We can’t be afraid to, with awareness, participate in our iffy world. INVASION FROM MARS - ANATOMY OF PANIC. On October 28, 1938 many Americans believed they were being invaded by Martians. This was the result of a Halloween stunt orchestrated by Orson Wells in which he adapted H. G. Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’ to the radio and broadcast the play as though it was actually happening. For Professor Howard Cantril of Princeton University and colleagues, this provided the perfect opportunity to investigate the anatomy of panic (Cantril, Gaudet & Herzog, 1940). Shortly after the event he interviewed 135 people in New Jersey to try and understand how they had reacted and what might have affected how they reacted. The most surprising category of people are those who failed to check the broadcast. Cantril found that those who fell into this category were also those who were most fearful and most likely to “double down” on their perceived “real” memories. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts RSS feed. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com David will respond to comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com

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