Many years ago I was an EMT. And here is what I learned about handling emergencies:

 - First, take your own pulse. Even among emergency personnel, people have different responses when you’re toned out. Some are overexcited (I often was); some are anxious; some are fearful, and remember the calls that went wrong; and there are those that are truly unfazed, who could sleep through it. They are rare, and this post is not for them. Once you know how you feel, you can choose how you act.

 - Second, those that are injured are often more calm than anyone around them. Savor the irony.

Third, if you and the patient are calm, you can help everyone else dial it down. When you deliberately breathe easy and deep, speak calmly and slowly, and move in a measured way, it helps others do the same.

That gives crucial time to assess.

Information is the key to calm

If you want to keep everyone else involved calm, information is key. And when it really matters, no bullshit. Tell the family and the patient what is happening, what procedures are available, and what the plan of action is. Tell them what you need them to do.

Did you watch Obama explain the bailout to the questioner in the debate? That’s the idea.

Remember, everyone wants to help in these situations. And if they know what is happening, and have most of the same information you do, they can stay calm themselves, even when things are very bad.

We need that now. And the public really needs to know what is still working.

One of my favorite all-time movies is Apollo 13. Lovell and Kranz both wrote books that are even better, but the film, at least the first time, gives you that tense feeling in the gut that comes from a crisis as well as the key information as it happened. It puts you in the capsule.

Here’s what they did:

-       Houston, we’ve got a problem… enough said.

-       They took the time to assess. “Work the problem. Don’t make things worse by guessing.”

-       They started with what works (the LEM) and went from there.

-       They defined the problem in terms of what needs to be done, and let people improvise solutions, but did not lose sight of the sense of urgency “The guys upstairs handed us this one and we’ve got to come through. We need to find a way to make this (square filter) fit into the hole for this (round filter cartridge) with nothing but this (spacesuit parts, paper, tape, plastic bags, etc).

-       Be honest about the crisis with the media. It is what it is.

I may be taking my own pulse for a while here, but I sure won’t be going to the bank. Let’s see what Bush says today. It had better be a tour de force.