Implementation of High Reliability Organizing (HRO): The Inherent Vice of Stress, Fear, and Threat

Abstract

The human mind evolved to naturally engage adversity -whether in the environment or from an enemy. Behaviors and our environment will be unpredictable because they are continuously oscillating, creating frequencies, and some of those frequencies have long periods. The long period frequency, acting alone or with other long period frequencies, creates forcing functions. Individuals, organizations, and the environment must respond in some manner to these forcing functions. The human brain will release corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which goes to the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), and the HPA terminates ongoing activity, suppresses the executive functions, and impairs abstract cognition. Concurrently, CRF enters the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system (LC-NE) to reorient cognition for attention and arousal -adaptive cognition is started, the individual focuses on behaviors, and engagement follows."During times of extreme stress, the brain takes the prefrontal cortex 'off-line' in favor of automated flight or fight responses." This is a common belief held by scientists, healthcare professionals, and the lay public. However, it is the extensive experience of the authors that one can, and must, think clearly in live-or-die situations. William J. Corr, fire captain, and WWII US Navy veteran, South Pacific, admonished firefighters, "When your body moves faster than your mind can work, slow down."One of the authors (DvS) asked the army medic how he and his experience differed from the teacher and her experience. There was no difference, the medic answered. It was not the fault of either person. The helping responders were not supposed to help. And both individuals have the same brain and had the same response.