I find Hanson's point in regard to critical phases of flight in the military very pertinent.
I was cabin crew for a national carrier and had a very 'near squeak' operating a 747 service around 5 years ago. We were around 10 minutes into boarding when a very curt call from the flight deck requested that boarding stop immediately. A second call for the F/O to report to the flight deck followed a few seconds later. The third and final 'alert call' ( the formal declaration of an emergency) came about a minute later.
I was at door 1R, opposite the boarding door and was well aware that this was either a bomb, fire, or serious fume event and that the likelihood would be a controlled evacuation using the airbridge, (although if the situation escalated a full evacuation was on the cards.)
While waiting for the next command I checked for outside hazzards and saw a number of baggage trucks and ground crew wandering around directly in line with where my slide would deploy.
The space needed for the slide was very difficult to judge and I knew that if I miscalculated I could risk injuring/killing people. If, as in the military, ground crews were aware that this was a critical phase then baggage trucks and personnel would have been kept clear of the slide paths.
As it transpired we didn't evacuate. A baggage truck had caught fire on the left side of the A/C but the fire services had dealt quickly with it.
As far as my training went I think it fully prepared me for the day. Apart from the initital 'oh bugger - hope my number not up' my mind snapped straight into procedure. I was quite alarmed with some of the comments here regarding crew ambling around the bottom of slides once an evacuation is completed. I can assure you that I and my adrenal gland was very well aware of what 700 hundred tons of jet A1 can do!
I think it might be more to do with the calibre of cabin crew than training alone. However with the move towards bargain basement wages I believe that those who do have the aptitude are far more likely to move towards the better paid, and more respected fields, of police/paramedic/military etc.