Practice is the best way to learn to deal with emergencies, with the exception of actually dealing with real ones on a regular basis. However most people don't really have the background or equipment to practice in a realistic manner, which can cause serious problems in the real situations. When I was a self-defense instructor one of the things I taught my students to do is continually play the “what if” game. Take a situation that you see and ask your self what if. What if while reading this post the power goes out what would you do? What would you do is your family is not there with you? What would you do if when you turn the battery powered radio on there is nothing but static? If you are confronted with a threat or emergency ask your self what will I do to counter this, then immediately ask what will happen when I do this, and how will I react. When your sitting at your desk playing the “what if” game more than one option is a great ay to explore your reactions and feelings as they pertain to what is going on. Once you are in the situation do what you planned in your mind and react to the situation as required. Deal with the situation and then sit back (After some time) and see how you could have done better. Do not second-guess you actions that you took while in the heat of the moment (and don’t pay attention to the finger pointers) they are based on limited information available at the time. After a time integrate the situation and the results into you’re “what if” scenarios