Disaster response: why fleeing could be fatal.

When a high pressure steam pipe exploded at Lexington Avenue and 41st Street a few weeks ago, many building occupants in the surrounding area rushed into the streets to supposed safety. Unfortunately, they ran into air that may have been contaminated with asbestos. Was evacuation the right response?

The natural instinct to flee in the face of a disaster has been heightened by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Most New Yorkers have read or heard the story of the fire safety director who, unaware that a second strike was imminent, instructed everyone in the second tower of the World Trade Center to stay in the building after the first tower was hit.

There was no fire in the building and there seemed to be no reason to have thousands of people flood the streets during a massive rescue effort.

Many New Yorkers are now convinced that the wisest course of action in the future would be to outsmart the authorities and ignore instructions to stay put. However, no one knows what form a future terrorist attack might take. If lethal or noxious gases were released, rushing into the open air could prove deadly.

Procedures for fires remain basically the same as they have been for years, but methods have changed for handling other types of crisis situations to better protect building occupants during an emergency.

Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) are now required for nearly all office buildings by the New York City Fire Department although, to date, only about half have filed plans These EAPs were developed for manmade or natural disasters--such as a burst steam pipe--as well as terrorist attacks, blackouts and serious weather events.

EAPs offer four possible emergency responses: Shelter in place, Inbuilding relocation, Partial evacuation and Full evacuation.

Sheltering in place means, simply, staying inside the building, but being aware that there is an emergency outside. Considering what was known when the steam pipe first exploded, logic would say that people should have stayed inside until they had a better understanding of what the risks were. Some of the buildings in the vicinity followed EAP procedures: fresh air intakes were shut down maintaining a safe environment and a secure building. Yet, people fled their office buildings to run into potentially risk-filled streets. At least one building in the area made the announcement to shelter in place. For the most part, that instruction was ignored.

Inbuilding relocation refers to moving to a safer part of the floor or building, which has been previously identified in the building's EAP. In the case of the burst steam pipe, an inbuilding relocation area would be one far from any windows shattered by the explosion or away from an area where such damage would be most likely to occur.

When our company conducts EAP drills and discusses sheltering in place and inbuilding relocation, building occupants appear to 'get the message'--at least, intellectually. But when they believe they are in danger, instincts take over. This is an awareness and training issue. Several months ago, an unidentified odor enveloped Manhattan. Rather than stay inside where the air had not been contaminated, several buildings evacuated. If a fire safety/EAP director determined that the odor emanated from the building being evacuated, that response might have made sense. Otherwise, sheltering in place would have been the safer course of action allowing the building engineers to shut down the fresh air intakes while the EAP made the shelter in place announcement. People need to know first that these procedures exist, then why they do. Years ago, everyone rushed to elevators whenever there was a fire threat. Thanks to regularly scheduled fire drills, a whole generation of New Yorkers has been trained to take the stairs.

The same education process has to be undertaken now: increase awareness, conduct drills and, during the crisis, provide ongoing reinforcement through constant communication with building occupants as information increases and events unfold.

BY WILLIAM MORELLI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, HOMELAND SAFETY CONSULTANTS, INC.