There seens to be two very different scenarios being discussed here. The accident scene with professionals on-site and the true ad hoc emergency. With regards to the accident scene, which upon further clarification was the main intent of your original message, the comments about addressing the issues during training makes sense. You may be relutant to do so during training to avoid "rockin' the boat," but that's the exact time in which to hammer out the process. Who knows, behaps the old hand will learn how to be a better leader in the process.

With regards to a true emergency situation, the question of leadership is much more fuzzy. Skater's Dad's philosophy, "It ain't gonna get done if we stand here looking at it, let's go!" rings tru with my experience. I tell the senior scouts in my troop that the first step in leadership is raising your hand when the need arises. Time and time again, I've been in situations where the leaders are the ones willing to step forward. A 'good' leader is one who knows his or her skills and limitation and is willing to seek help and delegate accordingly. In a true survival situation you have the added dynamic that the innocent bystanders are not just casual observers, but may actually be in danger themselves. Hence fear and panic become inflencers in the descision process. Add pain, hunger and cold into the mix and the leader has a handful. The STOP pricipal still applies. Except now the other members of the party become part of the mix. Part of Observe is to identify skill sets and assess or triage the mental state of the other members and to Plan accordingly, including them into the solution. That won't solve every problem, but it's a constructive start.

Interesting concept, group servival dynamics. we should perhaps reread Chris' account on the Channel islands. There the non-leaders were indifferent towards his leadership as they were not aware of the true peril of their situation. By quietly taking the steps he knew were correct, he eventual became the defacto leader without much question. What if they paniced and went off on their own regardless of his leadership. Well "you can lead a horse ..."

Ultimately, if you prepare and practice, and are willing to step forward in time of need, I beleive most folks will see your confidence and success (provided you've practiced) and will follow with out question.