Tuesday, 09 Sep, 2008 Health & Fitness

According to a survival expert, people with a Rambo-like character have more chances of dying in a disaster than people who show strong will but who are humble.

The author of the book entitled "Deep Survival", Robert Gonzales, believes he has identified the main features of how to survive a disaster. For his book he analyzed several amazing survival stories from such disasters as the Burmese cyclone, September 11 attacks and the Boxing Day tsunami.

"(The survivors) are people who tend to have a view of the world that does not paint them as a victim. They're not whiners who are always complaining about the bad things that are happening to them and expecting to get rescued," he said.

Gonzales mentioned that around 75 percent of people who became prisoners of a catastrophe either freeze of just wander in a daze. "The first thing people do when something bad happens is to be in denial. People who make good survivors tend to get through that phase quickly. They accept the evidence of their senses," he said.

Although in movies Rambo is able to survive a rain of bullets, in reality people who overestimate their powers most often die first.

"Humility can keep you out of trouble. If you go busting into the wilderness with the attitude that you know what's going on, you're liable to miss important cues," the author said.

In addition Gonzales said that most survivors had strong connections with their families, which is why they where motivated not to give up. In order to survive Gonzales suggests that people should think independently about what is happening to them. They should not follow instructions blindly in case these instructions seem to be wrong.

In 1975 the author himself avoided death when he decided not to fly on a DC-10 after analyzing the plane's safety record. The plane intended to transport passengers from Chicago to LA and crashed shortly after the takeoff - 271 people died.

"It's a story about having the information and using it. So when this trip came up, I was prepared to do something out of the ordinary."

He said that most of the survivors he studied did not show goods skills in surviving within critical situations. These people were neither the strongest nor did they have the biggest experience in their group. Gonzales outlined that physical strength and experience can often lead to negligence.

Source: CNN