by Sarah J Palmer

Created on: May 28, 2009

Assuming you haven't been killed outright by whatever atrocity has just been committed by your local fanatical activists, what you do when caught up in the middle of a terrorist attack depends largely on how you define the word 'caught'.

Caught as in injured, trapped and possibly going to die of your injuries:
Try to stem the bleeding with clothing, handy rags or your hand and draw attention to your predicament. But please do bear in mind that paramedics are trained to believe that if you've got sufficient air in your lungs to scream for attention then you probably don't need so much help as the silent unconscious victim.

Think twice before using your mobile phone because fractured gas mains or fuel pipes may finish you off completely when your phone ignites them. Now's a good point to remind you to familiarise yourself with the emergency number for every country you visit and possibly even programme it into your phone. This sounds a bit radical but not as radical as some terrorists. And being thus prepared enables you to do your bit to thwart their intentions to cause panic amongst the law-abiding public. Also remember to ICE your mobile - programme In Case of Emergency numbers in under the name "ICE1" "ICE2" etc so that if you don't make it at least the medics can call somebody to let them know.

Caught as in injured but still mobile:
Evacuate yourself to a place of safety and await your turn for medical treatment. A place of safety might not be immediately apparent but go with the crowd if you can. Don't go home from work or go to hospital unaided if you were at your hotel because your absence from the roll call means that until you've been accounted for emergency workers are going to risk their lives to find you.

Caught in the crowd when it happened but miraculously not injured:.
Thank your lucky stars and try to help others less fortunate, without putting yourself in greater risk or getting in the way of the professional emergency personnel.

Caught as in being evacuated ahead of an explosion:
Apparently our British terrorists use to regularly give coded warnings in advance of their activities, how very thoughtful! How much warning I don't know but if somebody has taken the trouble to alert the authorities I'm guessing it would suggest they are aiming to create more fear and commercial inconvenience than carnage. So take heed of the evacuation procedure, go where directed swiftly without trampling others or fussing over your shopping and pray to your God that you are not being sent into an area where a secondary device has been planned to go off.

Anything else doesn't really constitute being 'caught'. You may get stuck or delayed in traffic due to road closures. Your hospital appointment may be cancelled to accommodate emergencies of the latest rebel campaign or maybe you'll get sent home from work early because your office block is in a danger zone. But this is all trivia in the grander scale of things so don't panic, don't rubber-neck or start cashing in on your mobile-phone photographs or videos and say a little prayer of thanks for your continued good health.

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