Don't Be A Bystander

The bystander effect sees people simply standing by rather than helping in case of an emergency

NONE OF US like to think we’d walk on by when someone needed our help. But sometimes we behave in ways we wouldn’t expect when confronted with a situation we are unsure about. While we might like to think we would rush to someone’s assistance, we know from studies that often people hang back and this can have tragic consequences.

Research from the British Heart Foundation has suggested that a third of people would not perform CPR if they saw someone collapse on the street, with some even admitting they wouldn’t call an ambulance. I don’t blame people for this—it’s easy to see how this can happen. We convince ourselves we aren’t the best person to help, or that maybe we are overreacting or misunderstand what’s happening. We don’t want to look foolish or wade in when the situation is already in hand. Yet this can sometimes mean that no one helps when, in fact, someone desperately needs it.