Impact of Emergency on Decision-Making - Essay Example

Narrowing attention is a self-defense mechanism because it is inspired by fear. For example, when someone has been involved in a fire outbreak disaster, they live with the notion that fire is likely to happen at any time. If they were rescued by jumping through the window, the person may always want to stay near open windows, (Bouyssou & Dubois, 2010). The house may be having fire extinguishers, fire exits, and emergency doors. However, the person is likely to ignore all those options and think that the only way to escape a fire is through jumping through a window. Narrow attention is extremely limiting, and it eliminates the ability to think outside the box. The people involved tend to cling to the one method that might have worked for them.

Information overload refers to the inability to make a quality decision due to the availability of too much information. It is also referred to as infobesity. It occurs due to the fast accumulation of information and ease of replication and transmission of information, (Bouyssou & Dubois, 2010). According to Bouyssou & Dubois (2010), another principal cause is the presence of large amounts of historical information. This makes it hard to pick on the most appropriate decision. In case of a fire outbreak, an experienced firefighter is involved. He has more than five options to choose from. They know how to use fire extinguishers, how to use the fire exits. As a firefighter, he is trained to rescue people/novices. When he is caught up in a fire outbreak, all these ideas cross his mind. This slows the making of the final decisions and could affect the swiftness of his final response. Arguably Bouyssou & Dubois (2010), states that the ability to pick on the best option is put to the test. However, that is not enough. It is not enough to make smart decisions; good decisions must be made at the right time. This is where information overload becomes detrimental, (Bouyssou & Dubois, 2010). By the time the firefighter makes the final decision, the fire may have burnt to uncontrollable levels. Besides, the firefighter may not be of much help to the people trapped in the fire.

Limited information is a situation of having inadequate information needed to address a problem. This is the most common challenge. The chief cause is ignorance (Bouyssou & Dubois, 2010). Most people have an idea that is not strong enough to perform to rescue mission. When there is a fire outbreak, most people do not have information on what to do. Most people know that a fire extinguisher is useful in case of a fire outbreak. However, they do not have an idea how to operate a fire extinguisher. This is because of limited information. It makes the decision-making process become blurred. Limited information leads to panic which can lead to anxiety.