My only comment and observation with respect to tail rotor drive failures and reaction time is; they don't happen without an associated thud, clunk, clatter, grinding noise or preceding high frequency vibration. As handling pilot, you should be in no doubt when the excessive yaw rate that you're experiencing, with the power pedal fully forward, is a tail rotor drive failure.
Several hundred horse power going through the tail rotor drive system doesn't fail 'quietly'. In many of the simulator sessions that I've experienced, these essential clues were often missing.
JJ