The recent night club stampedes got me thinking - what is the best way to survive a stampede ?
I do realize that the best way would be stay away from crowds / and or not panic in case of an emergency. I may not panic but what do I do if I am caught in a panicked berserk crowd ?
Bend over and kiss your butt good-bye. Sorry, thats all I got.
Find something solid to hide behind, under, or on top of that the crowd can’t crush, push, or knock over.
Keep your wits about you. Try to keep up with the flow of the crowd. Keep your head down, so you can watch your feet and still keep your eyes on the back of the person in front of you.
Just put on a pair of Levi’s jeans. The stampeding crowd will part and run around on either side of you.
Or maybe that just works with bison.
How to stop a crowd from charging?
Why, take away their credit cards of course.
(sorry)
Best way to avoid a stampede is not to be in it. Check for emergency exits and alternate exits before an emergency or panic happens. Look around and assess the need to exit.
If caught in a stampede, stay calm and dont push. Call for everyone to stay calm and dont panic. Dont lose your footing. Stay upright. Clear the exits as soon as you get thru. Help anyone out of the way of a stampede.
Tell the idiots in the back to back up! If an exit is stuck, its faster to get back in (if possible) and unclog the exit than it is to push your way thru.
Try and determine if there is a real need to get out of the building. If there is not, work your way to the side and hunker down. If the building is on fire (which according to the reports I have seen is what killed the people last night, not a stampede, the building wasn’t too full) then try to remain calm and walk to the nearest exit. When you enter the venue, locate the nearest exit, and don’t assume that the only way out is the way you came in. Oh, and don’t panic.
Back when I was a little punk, I used to be fascinated with the way the pit would move and gyrate at big shows. I found it easer to think of the crowd as a rushing current and treat it as such.
If I wanted to hold my place relative to the rest of the crowd, I’d put my arms around the shoulders of those around me in such a way that I was supporting them as much as I was holding myself up. That way the people around me didn’t get angry or try to shrug me off.
If I wanted to get out of the crowd, I’d turn my body perpendicular to the direction everyone was facing, then just push along the path of least resistance. Or, I’d jump on top of everyone and “swim” to the back on top of the crowd. Don’t try that in a stampede, though, because if you go down head first you’re finished.
If I wanted to hold my position relative to the room and not the crowd, I found there isn’t really any good way to do it except to press my back flat against a wall or place myself in the lee of some sort of object like a monitor or a soundboard.
If I found myself in a situation like one of the disasters we’ve seen this week, the first thing I would do is mark the rear exits and try to get against a wall and out of the crowd rush as quickly as possible. (And pray the rear exits aren’t barred.) I would imagine that the ones who died the quickest were the ones who went for the main exit and got stuck standing up in the smoke.
Squat like a spring coil with forearms in front of face. Your legs will enable you to thrust your head and lungs above the pressing crowd.
I’d say keep moving and keep your arms up in a defensive posture.
Duct tape
The OP is being answered under two different situations:
Crowd is stampeding or crowd not moving but being pressed by more people.
Also in several nightclub disasters the emergency exits are locked or emerrgency exits are at bottom of stairs.