Emergency Exits

[Kanewpadle]

As a professional locksmith, I pay attention to emergency exits no matter where I go.

It's important to know where these exits are and how they operate.

In many of the larger department stores and shopping malls, Delayed Egress panic bars are used. This means that once you touch the touch sensitive bar an alarm sounds and there will be a 10 second delay. You will not be able to egress until after the 10 seconds.

Other panic bars allow instant egress which may or may not sound an alarm.

In accordance with fire code (NFPA 101) both types of panic bars are allowed. They should be mounted at about 41 inches.

Not all jurisdictions follow this fire code so you may see something different. You may see deadbolts, padlocks and chains, or locking cross bars which may not allow egress.

10 seconds is a LONG time. That's assuming that someone hasn't blocked the exit with merchandise or other stuff.

Know your surroundings. Know what you're up against. 10 seconds can mean life or death. A 100 decibel alarm isn't going to help either because it's going to attract much attention.

 

[JayFramer]

Why, pray tell, is a 10 second delay even used at all??

 

[Kanewpadle]

Why, pray tell, is a 10 second delay even used at all??

A deterrent against shoplifting.

 

[Redcoat3340]

For the past 40 years I've never gone into a theater, or big store, or restaurant without noting the emergency exits and how I'm going to get to one if the need arises.

My wife have been kidding me about all this time.

But I confess to having never looked to see if one exit is different than another....so thanks for this tip
Here's mine I got from a New York City fire marshal: In a hotel or motel hang your pants on the doorknob is case ya gotta get out quick; count the number of doors from your room to the emergency exit so if you are crawling in heavy smoke you can get to the exit by counting the doors even if you can't see; don't stay above the 3rd floor in case you have to jump.

I'm not always doctrinaire about staying on 3 or lower, but I've been counting doorways for 40 years.

Stay safe.

 

[gwpercle]

For the past 40 years I've never gone into a theater, or big store, or restaurant without noting the emergency exits and how I'm going to get to one if the need arises.

My wife have been kidding me about all this time.

But I confess to having never looked to see if one exit is different than another....so thanks for this tip
Here's mine I got from a New York City fire marshal: In a hotel or motel hang your pants on the doorknob is case ya gotta get out quick; count the number of doors from your room to the emergency exit so if you are crawling in heavy smoke you can get to the exit by counting the doors even if you can't see; don't stay above the 3rd floor in case you have to jump.

I'm not always doctrinaire about staying on 3 or lower, but I've been counting doorways for 40 years.

Stay safe.

I would like to add ,
Don't go to the elevators , they usually do not function in an emergency and are not even counted as a means of emergency egress.
Note where the exit STAIRS are and head for them .
You may have used the elevator to get to your room and it's human nature to leave the way you came but in a fire ...use the stairs .
Counting the # of doors to it is a good idea .
Gary

 

[LenS]

I would like to add ,
Don't go to the elevators , they usually do not function in an emergency and are not even counted as a means of emergency egress.
Note where the exit STAIRS are and head for them .
You may have used the elevator to get to your room and it's human nature to leave the way you came but in a fire ...use the stairs .
Counting the # of doors to it is a good idea .
Gary

Good advice everywhere. Earlier this week I had a medical checkup on the 3rd floor of a medical clinic in Boston. A young lady and I were waiting for the elevator when suddenly the lights went out and the firedoors closed up the hall and I could hear the elevator shutdown. Emergency lighting (lots of it) came on but we both looked at each other and commented that we were lucky not to be trapped in the elevator as we headed for the stairs (entire stairway was very well lit). As we exit the building an employee was standing outside talking on his cellphone saying that they could not operate the building on emergency power.

 

[NYlakesider]

As a professional locksmith, I pay attention to emergency exits no matter where I go.

It's important to know where these exits are and how they operate.

In many of the larger department stores and shopping malls, Delayed Egress panic bars are used. This means that once you touch the touch sensitive bar an alarm sounds and there will be a 10 second delay. You will not be able to egress until after the 10 seconds.

Other panic bars allow instant egress which may or may not sound an alarm.

In accordance with fire code (NFPA 101) both types of panic bars are allowed. They should be mounted at about 41 inches.

Not all jurisdictions follow this fire code so you may see something different. You may see deadbolts, padlocks and chains, or locking cross bars which may not allow egress.

10 seconds is a LONG time. That's assuming that someone hasn't blocked the exit with merchandise or other stuff.

Know your surroundings. Know what you're up against. 10 seconds can mean life or death. A 100 decibel alarm isn't going to help either because it's going to attract much attention.

I learned those lessons well years ago. As a construction worker
in large chemical plants I always learned where the quickest way out was and also a secondary way of getting out quickly, where the safety showers were located, where was the nearest fire bottle and pull hook was!

In some places things were deceptive so a few minute look around could save your bacon. Force of habit I look around in any strange place, in today's world you got to expect the unexpected.

Things can and will happen fast!

 

[robertrwalsh]

I didn't know about that 10 second thing. Good thing to know.

 

[ContinentalOp]

I didn't know about that 10 second thing. Good thing to know.

FYI, such doors will typically have a sign saying it will open after 10 seconds. Otherwise, you can't tell them apart from a regular emergency exit. Well, until you try to open it.

 

[Muss Muggins]

The delay in every federal courthouse I've been in is 30 seconds. Keeps people from allowing others to get around security screening . . .

A deterrent against shoplifting.

 

[LPD256]

The delay in every federal courthouse I've been in is 30 seconds. Keeps people from allowing others to get around security screening . . .

Stops the runaways as well......

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The delay in every federal courthouse I've been in is 30 seconds. Keeps people from allowing others to get around security screening . . .

Very interesting! Another reason to avoid government buildings!

I have to check monthly, alarms for Carbon monoxide and Methane in buildings that surround a former dump. One of the buildings is county offices, I'm unarmed for only 10 to 15 minutes but I just don't like it! At ALL! Ever!

Ivan

 

[Lostaro]

I look at buildings for a living....it's amazing the number of places that lock or chain egress doors shut.

Places that you'd think would know better...schools, churches, theaters...people don't think anything bad is ever going to happen.

 

[white cloud]

Well all of this has been thought provoking.

 

[GaryS]

I'm always amazed at the places that have none working emergency generators. My whole house generator comes on every Sunday morning to test itself. Yet, large commercial and public safety buildings don't do that. Or, if they do, no one reports failed tests.

About 15 years ago, the emergency battery back up for the radio/computer systems at Boston PD headquarters failed and started a fire.

Why? Because no one had checked the water levels in the lead acid batteries they were using in the system.

The entire building had to be evacuated and communications had to be run from the back up center.

Good advice everywhere. Earlier this week I had a medical checkup on the 3rd floor of a medical clinic in Boston. A young lady and I were waiting for the elevator when suddenly the lights went out and the firedoors closed up the hall and I could hear the elevator shutdown. Emergency lighting (lots of it) came on but we both looked at each other and commented that we were lucky not to be trapped in the elevator as we headed for the stairs (entire stairway was very well lit). As we exit the building an employee was standing outside talking on his cellphone saying that they could not operate the building on emergency power.

 

[smoothshooter]

I'm always amazed at the places that have none working emergency generators. My whole house generator comes on every Sunday morning to test itself. Yet, large commercial and public safety buildings don't do that. Or, if they do, no one reports failed tests.

About 15 years ago, the emergency battery back up for the radio/computer systems at Boston PD headquarters failed and started a fire.

Why? Because no one had checked the water levels in the lead acid batteries they were using in the system.

The entire building had to be evacuated and communications had to be run from the back up center.

The main reason for the lack of generators is cost.
The bigger the building, the bigger the cost.
A generator big enough to run even a medium sized building without an inordinate number of electrical devices can cost tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands.
Plus maintennance.
At taxpayer expense if a government building.
If, for the cost of a generator at a courthouse, for example, the county could add on an additional courtroom that would help reduce the backlog of cases,which would you pick
if it were up to you?
Which would serve the needs of the county and it's taxpayers better?

 

[GaryS]

Not all government buildings need back up generators, but certainly some do. Police and fire stations come to mind. Hospitals certainly need emergency power and around here several have their own full blown power plants. They generally run the hospitals off of the power company, but can run them off of their back up systems.

All of which is beside my point. If someone decides that they need a back up power source for any reason, then it is incumbent on them to make sure it works.

I have a friend who has a portable generator. He keeps it in his garage. Last year I asked him how often he ran it. "Never." was the answer. I got it running for him and wrote up instructions on maintenance and regular testing. To my knowledge he's done none of it.

What's the point of buying a generator and putting in a transfer switch if you don't test the generator and make sure it's running. The time to fix stuff is before you need it.

That's why I do my snow blower maintenance in July.

The main reason for the lack of generators is cost.
The bigger the building, the bigger the cost.
A generator big enough to run even a medium sized building without an inordinate number of electrical devices can cost tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands.
Plus maintennance.
At taxpayer expense if a government building.
If, for the cost of a generator at a courthouse, for example, the county could add on an additional courtroom that would help reduce the backlog of cases,which would you pick
if it were up to you?
Which would serve the needs of the county and it's taxpayers better?

 

[flagman1776]

I had to pay to get my neglected Honda 6500 portable generator running again. Bad gas. Now, we start it monthly. My buddy has a major propane generator which self starts on a schedule. It's really smart for his rural location.

 

[JohnZMI]

Remember the northern grid failure in August of 2003? This area was without power for three days - except our house . Strictly dumb luck, but three weeks earlier I had a Generac 18-KW natural gas fully-automatic whole-house generator and transfer switch installed, and I have a contracted service that comes twice a year to perform regular preventive maintenance (and the unit starts and runs every Monday morning and performs a self-test on its own). 16 years now, and all it's needed has been a starter and a battery, and we don't need to be home to turn it on. Generators that don't run aren't worth much - no maintenance, no run, no power when your utility power drops out.

 

[Muss Muggins]

We had an ice storm down here in the sand flats back in 2009. No power for about ten days in most of the area, including the towns. Lots of people got generators then, and all new gov't construction around here has a big generator included . . .