trapped in an elevator

[figgyx]

I used to work for a seven story slightly luxurious hotel. One night during a big party in one of our ballrooms several of our guests entered into one of the elevators and promptly overloaded it causing it to stop between the first and second floors.

We get a call from the emergency phone in the elevator and due to the frenzied nature of the call we immediately call the fire department. It seems as if one of the dumbass guests was passed out on the floor of the elevator - or at least we were told that.

With this in mind we did not want to wait for the elevator repairman to come and fix said elevator. The fire department arrives and have to go up to the second floor and force the doors open and remove guests from the hatch in the top.

Our head engineer arrives and wants to know why we had the fire department damage the doors to get guests out - I think just maybe because we were deathly afraid a guest was dying of alcohol poisoning on the elevator floor? I mean, really, if there was a slight possibility this was true why would we wait hours for the repair dude?

[Slave to the Phone]

I think you did the right thing. There are MANY reasons someone might be passed out and many of them do require immediate medical care. He might have just been drunk, she might have severe alcohol poisoning, he might be having a heart attack, she might be in the middle of a diabetic crisis, the list goes on and on. Your head engineer was out of line.

The one time I got stuck in an elevator, one of the people with me hyperventilated from fear and passed out. I thought she had had a heart attack and started panicking as well. Not because I was afraid of the elevator suddenly crashing to the bottom of the building, but because I'm in no way qualified to provide any but the most basic first aid. The person on the phone told me that if she was breathing (she was) to not try to do chest compressions and I calmed right back down. She woke up, started freaking out and passed out again. Quite frankly, I liked it better when she was unconscious.

[bhskittykatt]

You totally did the right thing and your engineer had no right to bitch. I mean, he was allowed to bitch in general to himself about the annoying situation, but not at you or about you.

What annoyed me at my motel job was that someone called in an OD into one of the rooms. They called from a cell phone so it didn't set off alarms at the front desk, and no one bothered to tell us (historically 911 would often call us and let us know what was up and to go check on the room before EMS arrived). They first tried to use a battering ram on the door, and when that didn't work they ended up cutting out the lock. These are electronic locks; we have an emergency override at the front desk that would have been less damage and would have been a whole lot faster, but no one bothered to tell us. I think I have bitching rights about them in that situation. But for your situation...that was definitely the right call.

As for being stuck in an elevator, happened to me once. Turned out that our party host had neglected to unlock the floor we were going to (we were borrowing her parent's office after-hours in a big multi-story building). We didn't know what was up at the time. I just waited for someone to pick up the call and was surprised to turn around and see my BFF curled up in a ball on the floor crying. I don't think even she realized she was that claustrophobic until that incident....fortunately it was a situation quickly resolved once we figured out what was going on with the elevator.

[Seshat]

The one time I got stuck in an elevator, one of the people with me hyperventilated from fear and passed out. I thought she had had a heart attack and started panicking as well. Not because I was afraid of the elevator suddenly crashing to the bottom of the building, but because I'm in no way qualified to provide any but the most basic first aid.

You did absolutely the right thing to listen to the person on the phone, check what they told you to check, and do what they said to do.

However, just from random chance, you're likely to run into a situation again where you may need to provide more than basic first aid.
Check with all the clubs you're a member of, check with your union (if any), check with your job: one of these may well qualify you for a discount first aid course. Or your employer - especially if it's a big corporation, or a family-run place with a good owner - may give you a bonus to help cover the cost of a course.
Community organisations may well also run first aid courses every so often.
If you're somewhere where St Johns Ambulance exists, contact them. Also contact Red Cross/Red Crescent, and .. well, any local organisation that's into either educating the community or community welfare.

SOMEONE will have an affordable first aid program where you can refresh and improve your skills.

[MoonCat]

She woke up, started freaking out and passed out again. Quite frankly, I liked it better when she was unconscious.

That would either be me, or the person I was stuck in there with. The thought of getting stuck in the elevator kinda freaks me out, but I also know at least two people who would be even more panicky than I would. Not good

[Cia]

As long as I have a bottle to pee in I'd be fine.

[Mr Hero]

They could tell jokes to pass the time. I know a great one!

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Max?
Max who?
Max wants to come in and go crazy!

[Jay 2K Winger]

They could tell jokes to pass the time. I know a great one!

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Max?
Max who?
Max wants to come in and go crazy!

........vell, see dot's not really a joke, iz it, becawze it makes no zense.

[Slave to the Phone]

Thank you for that great info, Seshat. I actually do have a lot of first aid training, but who wants to actually use it in an emergency? It would have been the first time I actually practiced on a person and I was terrible afraid that I would have failed. That's why I was panicking.

I guess I can understand about claustrophobia, but nobody needs to worry about elevators falling to the ground like they do in the movies. It really doesn't happen. There are a bunch things that will happen if the elevator starts to move too quickly, all of which are designed to stop it before people get hurt. This is why overloaded elevators get stuck.

Way back when Otis first built elevators, he designed rods that would spring out into the wall if the cable failed. Nowadays elevators are really very safe, so all of you are afraid of being stuck in an elevator should read this before you step into another one.

Elevators are safe. I've only been stuck in one once and if that woman wasn't being a drama queen, I would have happily read my book while waiting to get rescued.

[notalwaysright]

Our head engineer arrives and wants to know why we had the fire department damage the doors to get guests out - I think just maybe because we were deathly afraid a guest was dying of alcohol poisoning on the elevator floor? I mean, really, if there was a slight possibility this was true why would we wait hours for the repair dude?

Serious, the cost of repairing the door is small in comparison with being sued because someone had a medical emergency and hotel staff declined to call 911. Plus, I'm sure one of the people in the elevator would have just called themselves.

I'm not claustrophobic, except below decks on a boat. If I can see the stairs/ladder to the deck I'm okay, but I could never go on a cruise ship. I just have this blind panic that the ship will start sinking and I'll be trapped. I'm sure they have ways to get out, but that's why it's a phobia, because it's irrational.

[dalesys]

... I'll be the one with my head stuck through the ceiling ...
[/Cos-Approx]

[Kittykat]

I'd be the one who passed out. I HATE elevators and am terrified of being stuck in one. If it actually happened, I'd lost it and have a panic attack.

[mathnerd]

I don't like closed spaces, but I wouldn't panic in a stuck elevator. I wouldn't like it though. Years ago, when I was teaching at a community college, I came close to getting stuck. Normally I'd take the elevator to the third floor, but that day I was walking with another professor who always takes the stairs. While we were walking there was a power outage (caused by a car crashing into and knocking out the transformer that serviced most of the buildings on campus) and the elevator got stuck between the second and third floors. The emergency generators didn't oower the elevators, and the fire department had to come out to pull people out through the door on the top. I'm glad I took the stairs that day.

[Slave to the Phone]

I'm sorry if I came across as mean to people with phobias. I understand that fear is fear no matter how irrational it is. Currently, I have a co-worker who refuses to deal with a certain line of clothing because the bar code has 666 in the middle of it. That's fine, I'll fold and stock those while she does some of mine.

The woman in my stuck elevator was a total drama queen and thrived on attention. If she saw a spider, she would refuse to enter the room and would scream and make a scene and just couldn't work for an hour or so until she calmed down. If someone said something that she thought was rude, she would pout for days. By the time we got stuck in the elevator together I had run out of fucks to give. I'm sure that if I had been a man, she would have listened to me about elevators being safer than cars and would have huddled in my strong manly arms for protection while trembling in a delicate female way.

So, again, I'm sorry if I offended anyone. That was not my intention. However, those of you who are afraid of elevators might want to look at my above posted link. It won't make your phobia go away, but it might help your logical mind talk to your subconscious mind. Really, getting stuck in an elevator is nothing but an inconvenience. Plus, if you are on the clock, its a really good excuse to just sit in a corner and read or play on your phone for half an hour.

[MoonCat]

Hmm, that CW of yours sounds a bit like someone I work with. She can turn a two-minute conversation into a three-act play complete with chorus and special effects.

Thanks for the link. It's good to know that there are safeties on elevators. At work we've often joked that if we got stuck in the elevator, we'd rather it would be on the way in to work than on the way home!

One guy we used to work with actually did get stuck, and pressed the emergency buzzer. Problem is, people often hit the buzzer by accident because it's right next to the "close door" button, which impatient people often press when the doors don't close "fast enough." So the poor guy was in there for a while before anyone took the sound of the buzzer seriously.