Rescue model for the bystanders' intervention in emergencies

Abstract

To investigate the effect of social interaction on the bystanders' intervention in emergency situations we introduce a rescue model which includes the effects of the victim's acquaintance with bystanders and those among bystanders. This model reproduces the surprising experimental result that the helping rate tends to decrease although the number of bystanders k increases. The model also shows that given the coupling effect among bystanders, for a certain range of small k the helping rate increases according to k and that coupling effect plays both positive and negative roles in emergencies.