Health

This is a term that is usually applied to business but, in today's hectic world, it can be easily used to describe life in general. For some people, a life drama or crisis is rare, but others experience emergencies more frequently. No one knows when or where they might be confronted with one of these traumatic episodes but, how one perceives and then copes with a crisis can help define individual characteristics.

Here's a little questionnaire that will test your crisis management capabilities.

1. You are driving on a busy freeway. You do not have cell phone. Suddenly a tire blows out. You manage to safely pull to the side of the road. Then you:

a) get angry, slap the steering wheel and blame a nail or some other sharp object dropped in the road by someone else.

b) turn on your hazard lights, get out of the car and try to flag down a passing car.

c) turn on your hazard lights, get out and open the trunk of the car, remove the spare tire, jack and lug wrench. You then proceed to change the tire.

2. Your brother calls to inform you that he and his wife are getting a divorce. You:

a) tell him you expected this and inform him that he is better off without her.

b) tell him you are sorry but, you are not surprised.

c) tell him you are sorry they couldn't work things out and let him know that you will be there for him, even if he just needs a shoulder to cry on.

3. You are in a restaurant having lunch with friends. At the table behind you, a man begins choking on a bite of food. You:

a) ask the choking man if he is all right.

b) ignore the choking man sitting behind you.

c) perform the Heimlich maneuver on the choking man.

4. A member of a friend's family has died. You:

a) find out where services are to be held and send flowers.

b) call the friend to express your condolences.

c) make a complete meal and take to the friend's house.

5. Your child comes home from school and gives you a note from the nurse saying the entire third grade has been exposed to infectious hepatitis. You:

a) get upset and ask "What type of parent would send their child to school with infectious hepatitis?"

b) check your child for signs of fever, then let him go out to play.

c) call the pediatrician to ask what symptoms accompany infectious hepatitis.

6. You are driving on a desolate country road when you come upon a car that is flipped over on its roof. You:

a) slow down, but drive on.

b) slow down and proceed to the next phone where you call for help.

c) stop, use your cell phone or CB radio to call for help, then go to check on the occupants.

7. Cost cutting at your company means that you have been let go. You:

a) blame the others in the office that did not lose their positions.

b) have a good cry then get lost in a movie on television.

c) go home and start going through the help wanted ads in the newspaper or the employment opportunities on the internet.

How To Score Your Crisis Management Skills

Give yourself three (3) points for every A answer, two (2) points for every B answer, and one (1) point for every C answer.

If you scored 19 to 21 points, you may be reacting to emergencies emotionally or out of frustration or ignorance. You need to seriously examine your crisis management skills as these tendencies may be prone to contribute to the problem at hand. Breath deep and ask yourself, "How would I want to be treated in a situation like this?" or "How can I make a bad situation better?"

If you scored 14 to 18 points, you may be avoiding the moment rather than acting on it and taking control of the situation. You are managing some crisis situations, but require work in others. Try mentally seeing the outcome of your words or deeds before you react. Stay calm, centered and face the crisis, don't try to escape it.

If you scored 7 to 13 points you have excellent crisis management skills. You stay relatively calm when facing one of life's little dramas. But it may be important for you to know that when the drama is over, expressing emotion is a requirement for a healthy being.