Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 22
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
What is Panic
• Panic is:
– A sudden fear which dominates or replaces thinking [ wikipedia.org ]
– A sudden unreasoning terror often accompanied by mass flight
[www.merriam -webster.com ]
• Often used incorrectly to describe any type of fear, flight,
evacuation, or lack of coordination
– Flight is often appropriate
• Panic flight is
– Irrational, hysterical or groundless flight
– Reckless disregard for others
Module One – Observed Behaviors during Mass Chemical Exposures
22
Panic is a term commonly applied to what is occurring in the minds of those exposed.
Panic is different than the effects described so far (in which the threat is internalized and
symptoms/signs develop.) In panic behavior, the person reacts irrationally to an event
and runs or fights, etc. Sometimes flight is the appropriate thing to do (e.g., those
individuals in the vicinity of the New York World Trade Center on the morning of
9/11/2001).
December 2008 Version 2.0 Page 448