Emotional Intelligence & Emergency Response – Part 4
December 16, 2009 by lyon · Leave a Comment
We are pleased to offer this talk by Dan Goleman called Emotional Intelligence and Emergency Response. Whether you are a manager leading a team through a time of crisis, or a first responder handling a dangerous emergency, Goleman’s guidance provides a framework which may be used to prepare for such an event. In this section, Goleman leads a discussion with Barry Dorn of the Harvard School of Public Health and Leonard Marcus of the Harvard National Preparedness Leadership Initiative.
Section 4 – Risk, Uncertainty and Experience
In the last decade, the public health profession has often been called on to prepare for unprecedented emergency events. As public health officials face off against global pandemics and the threat of chemical/biological weapons, the unpredictable nature of the emergency becomes a grave concern. And to compound this problem, the brain responds to uncertainty in the same way as it responds to a known danger.
In these new and ever-changing times, what’s the best way for an emergency worker to prepare for the unprecedented event?
Emotional Intelligence & Emergency Response – Part 1
October 17, 2009 by lyon · Leave a Comment
Now that the podcast is up and running again, we are pleased to offer a talk by Dan Goleman called Emotional Intelligence and Emergency Response. Whether you are a manager leading a team through a time of crisis, or a first responder handling a dangerous emergency, Goleman’s guidance provides a framework which may be used to prepare for such an event. Following his lecture, Goleman leads a discussion with Barry Dorn of the Harvard School of Public Health and Leonard Marcus of the Harvard National Preparedness Leadership Initiative.
Section 1: Applied Emotion
In this first section, Goleman describes why effective emergency response requires “the intelligent application of emotion.” He offers a neurological explanation for why cognitive intelligence is often rendered irrelevant in our response to highly stressful situations. During these events, the brain’s decision-making center shifts from the left prefrontal cortex (which usually governs logically and analytically) to the amygdala, the brain’s emergency response center. Since they are rooted in deep-seeded biological survival tactics, reactions typically generated by the amygdala are strong, sudden and emotional, and they often lead to poor decisions. In order to be effective in emergency situations, responders must learn to resist the “amygdala hijack” and remain calm and focused enough to draw on necessary expertise to devise an innovative solution.
