On July 30, 2010 a homeless man armed with a loaded gun burst into the emergency room of Children’s Hospital in Oakland, CA. He grabbed a female employee and shoved the .38 caliber revolver into her stomach as he shouted for everyone to back away. After several minutes, police officers showed up with rifles and the man put down the gun. The employee who was taken hostage was not hurt, but several other hospital employees were so distraught that they were sent home for the rest of the day. By contrast, several of the other employees volunteered to extend their shift to get hospital services back to normal.

I know first hand how difficult it is to predict your response in a crisis situation.