If you were in a disaster, what would you do? How would you react? It might not be the way you think. Our disaster personalities can be quite different than the ones we expect to meet.

Filled with utterly fascinating tales of contemporary disasters and the people caught up in them, author Amanda Ripley reflects on the various ways people respond to disaster, what happens inside the brain physiologically, why some people fare much better than others, and how we all can improve our disaster response.

Be mentally prepared. Pay attention to exits. Take emergency drills seriously. Train your fear/stress response. Simple things such as learning where the exits are when in an unfamiliar place can mean the difference between surviving or not. Those who anticipate possible disaster and know what to do and how to do it are more confident if and when the disaster occurs. More likely to push past denial and deliberation and act. If you have to stop and think things through, you might not have time to survive.

Remember that while governing agencies provide experts and special equipment to be deployed in a crisis, the vast majority of rescues in disasters are done before these aid forces arrive, by the regular people caught up in them. Read this book, have your family and neighbors read it, and increase your chances of survival should you ever find yourself in a disaster situation.