These days, when we talk about “preparedness,” we tend to think of 72-hour kits, car kits, evacuation kits, and all that good “Homeland Security” stuff.
But.
One vital aspect of preparedness that is often overlooked is what the military refers to as “situational awareness.” It is as simple as knowing what is going on around you. If you think, if you avoid hazardous situations, you may never need to open the fancy kits (except to check expiration dates, of course). The techniques of situational awareness, as applied to civilian life, are simple to learn, easy to apply, and can easily save your life.
Back in February of 2003, a fire destroyed the Station night club in West Warwick, RI. 100 people died. And, to a certain extent, they died unnecessarily. The management of the Station had purchased some “egg-crate” foam to deaden the sound of the music, in response to complaints from neighbors. The foam was not fire-resistant (nor, for that matter, was it sound-deadening, but that’s not germaine here). Additionally, the club’s main entrance led to a narrow hallway before opening into the main room of the club.
As the band Great White began their set, a technician ignited some pyrotechnic devices, which in turn ignited the foam around the drummer’s alcove. About 30 seconds after ignition, club patrons realized something was not right, and they started for the main entrance. According to subsequent analysis by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), conditions within the club became untenable in less than 90 seconds. Most of the dead were discovered piled in the narrow hall to the main door.
Video shot inside the club the night of the fire (ironically, the video was for a news report on nightclub safety), as analyzed by NIST, indicated a number of emergency exits in the club, and several fire extinguishers. The footage also showed that the fire alarm system was working — the strobes were clearly visible through the early moments of the fire.
Had the patrons practiced the tenets of situational awareness, many could have escaped through the various emergency exits, instead of instinctively trying to exit through the door they used to enter the club. Quick-thinking patrons might have grabbed a couple of the extinguishers and put out the fire while it was still in the incipient stage [1]. And, of course, if the club owners had installed a fire sprinkler system — if they had been situationally aware of the dangers of fires in night clubs — nobody would have died [2].
What does this mean for the average citizen?
This is what I do when I go to a new restaurant:
- The first thing I do is look up at the ceiling. Hopefully, I’ll see sprinkler heads in the ceiling. There has never been a multiple-fatality fire in a fully-sprinklered building where the sprinkler system was working.
- Find at least three or four emergency exits close to where we’ll be sitting. Exits don’t have to be doors, either… if a fire starts, I have NO qulams about breaking a window to get out.
- Plan routes to those exits, based on the assumptions that (a) you won’t be able to see, (b) you’ll be crawling on the floor (that’s where the cleanest air will be), and (c) others will be panicking.
- Know where the fire extinguishers are, and know how to use the various types.
- If I see decorations or building finishes that look overly-flammable — like foam around the drummer’s alcove — I just turn around and leave. A lot of materials release toxic gases when they burn: carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, phosgene, acrolein, and several hundred others. In a case like this, it doesn’t matter how good the band is, it isn’t worth the risk.
The whole process takes less than a minute after you do it a few times.
The same process can be applied to larger-scale issues. If the National Weather Service starts posting hurricane warnings, get out of town early – don’t wait till the highways are clogged (or closed or even destroyed). If you live near a chemical plant, ask your local government officials if you can review the appropriate public emergency plans for the plant (and don’t accept their instinctive reaction that the plans are “classified”). Talk to your local emergency management people (usually the fire department is a good place to start) and find out what hazards are possible in your area.
And if you really want to be situationally aware, become involved in your community’s Local Emergency Response Committee.
Oh, and learn how to use fire extinguishers (again, your fire department can probably help), make sure you check the batteries in your smoke detectors, learn first aid and CPR… and make sure you have the appropriate kits in the house and the cars.
NOTES
[1] I am not saying that extinguishers would have been successful, merely that they might have been. Using a fire extinguisher correctly takes a little bit of reading, a little bit of practice, a fair amount of courage, and a LOT of common sense.
[2] The NIST ran a series of computer simulations and test burns in their laboratories, and determined that sprinklers would have kept conditions tenable throughout.
Posted by Andrew Eckman info@communitylifesafety.com
