The True Golden Hour: How People Respond in Emergencies

Author: Hayim Granot
ISBN: 978-0-9782526-0-1

Synopsis

The True Golden Hour offers a unique understanding of the latest findings on population reaction to natural or man-made disasters all over the world; and in particular enhanced by Israeli extensive experience. This updated edition of the book shows that, contrary to popular belief, people can deal with pressures derived from the most difficult emergency situations such as floods, fires, earthquakes, and more. Prof. Granot, a leading Israeli authority with recognized international standing in this area, has extensive background in civil defense practice.

In The True Golden Hour, he combines comprehensive knowledge of worldwide research on human behavior under extreme circumstances with his own practical experience during the Gulf War.

About the author

Prof. Hayim Granot was a researcher at the City University of NY. He taught sociology at Long Island University and at the Graduate School of Social Work at Rutgers University in NJ. In 1970 he was appointed to the School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where he served till 2002. Prof. Granot established the Mass Emergencies Project at Bar-Ilan University with its emphasis on applied solutions for human problems in emergencies and disasters. He served as a senior consultant to civil defense headquarters and other emergency agencies on community response and behavior in emergencies.

Customer Reviews:

Book Review – Stephen Z. Smith, MD "Stephen Z. Smith, MD"
Editor – Journal of the Kentucky Medical Association
April 26,
2009

The True Golden Hour
How People Respond in Emergencies

Prof. Hayim Granot, (Ret)
Mass Emergencies
Project
School of Social Work
Bar-Ilan University
Ramat Gan, Israel

The Key Publishing House Inc.
Toronto,
Canada, 2009
www.thekeypublish.com

ISBN 978-0-9782526-1-8

Faced with all types and repetitions of calamities, we
learn all too quickly about horrific details and responders in the instant news cycle and multimedia rich world. Professor Granot has studied how the
response patterns develop and has some therapeutic suggestions. Living and working in Israel and having taught in the United States, he can speak to
an audience that is both familiar and sympathetic. In background, the “Golden Hour” refers to the initial time critical to survival of victims,
while this concept has morphed into the public’s response time coming to aid. What accounts for this public benevolence and sense of duty seems to
distill the charge for this book. In an interesting, sometimes historical, otherwise theoretical perspective, the author discusses the practical
implications for emergency planning and the future goals for improving the survivability of many people injured at one time. Measuring the
catastrophes even in our current millennium, let alone those at the end of the 20th century, there is great impetus to improving and evolving our
disaster preparedness. In a somewhat remarkable table, Professor Granot details the numbers, many in the hundreds of thousands, of deaths in past
disasters with a “?” as an epitaph to the Darfur debacle. Numerous other graphs and tables make precise reference points and along with chapter
ending references and an index, this book serves as a primer for readers interested in disasters.