Crowd Manager Training Provided by the Department of Security and Environmental Management

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New Florida Fire Safety Code:

Florida Fire Prevention Code including 2006 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code,

Sections 12.7.6.1/13.7.6.1

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In order to ensure that we are keeping our School District in compliance with this new code, please follow these Instructions: 1. Please review the following Power Point slides. 2. When completed, print as many copies of the last slide

containing the exam as needed. 3. Answer the five (5) test questions, print your name,

School/assignment, date, and forward to the attention of Tim Kutz or Bill Taylor @ the Admin Center.

4. Upon receipt of your Test results, we will forward, via e-mail, your Crowd Management Certificate of Completion.

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This training is supported by the following: SFPE Handbook of (Society of Fire Protection Engineers) Fire Protection Engineering, Life Safety

Code and 101 are trademarks of the National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA.

______ SFPE Chapter 13 Sec. 3 Movement of People: The Evacuation Timing

Reprinted with the permission from SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Copyright © 2008, NFPA, Quincy, MA.

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NFPA 101® Life Safety Code® Handbook 2006 Edition Reprinted with permission from NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code, Copyright © 2008 NFPA, Quincy, MA. This reprinted material is not the complete and official position of the NFPA on the referenced subject, which is represented only by the standard in its entirety

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Over the years, there have been Several Public Assembly and Night Club fires in the United Sates that have resulted in multiple fatalities, such as the: - 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, KY, where 165 patrons lost their lives. - 1990 Happy Land Social Club fire in Bronx, NY, where 87 patrons lost their lives and most recently. - 2003 Station Nightclub fire in West Warwick, RI, where 100 patrons lost their lives. These fires and the resulting fatalities have all been determined to be preventable.

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Though there have been a number of school fires over the years, fortunately fatalities from these fires are rare and obviously that’s the way we want to keep it.

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As a result of these incidents, the State of Florida has recently enacted fire safety codes (2006 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, Sections 12.7.6.1/13.7.6.1) requiring that a certain number of Trained Crowd Managers be present at any of our School District gatherings/assemblies of 50 or more people in our classes, gymnasiums, stadiums, cafeterias and auditoriums.

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Who needs this training? Any Administrator or staff member who has a chance of being a part of an assembly/gathering of 50 or more people during any of our school related functions, can and should receive this training. Not everyone has to have this training, but the more the merrier. We want to make sure that each school has on-hand a sufficient number of Trained Crowd Managers to meet the code requirements.

Crowd Manager Training The Station nightclub fire occurred beginning at 11:07 PM EST, on Thursday, February 20, 2003. It is considered to be the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in United States history, killing 100 people, four of whom died at local hospitals. The fire was caused when pyrotechnic sparks, set off by the tour manager of the evening's headlining band, Great White, ignited flammable sound insulation foam in the walls and ceilings around the stage, creating a flash fire that engulfed the club in 5 1/2 minutes. Some 230 people were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured.

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The below diagram is the floor plan for the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, RI.

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The numbers reflected in the below diagram are the numbers of dead bodies and locations of where they were recovered after the fire.

Crowd Manager Training

Florida Fire Prevention Code: 12.7.6.1 Assembly occupancies shall be provided with a minimum of one trained crowd manager or crowd manager supervisor. Where the occupant load exceeds 250, additional trained crowd managers or crowd manager supervisors shall be provided at a ratio of 1 crowd manager or crowd manager supervisor for every 250 occupants, unless otherwise permitted by the following: 50 people equals an assembly occupancy

(1) This requirement shall not apply to assembly occupancies used exclusively for religious worship with an occupant load not exceeding 2000.

(2) The ratio of trained crowd managers to occupants shall be permitted to be reduced where, in the opinion of the authority having jurisdiction, the existence of an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system and the nature of the event warrant. 12

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Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Human Behavior in Fire, 1998, University o f Ulster, Belfast, United Kingdom. Movement of People: Evacuation Timing 1. Panic is very rare even in fires. Normal patterns of behavior, movement route choices,

and relationships with others tend to persist during emergency situations.

2. People’s behavior tends to be altruistic and reasonable, especially in light of the limited and often ambiguous information available to people at the time of the event.

3. After receiving clues of a potential fire, such as the fire alarm signal or smelling smoke,

people often ignore these initial clues or spend time investigating, seeking information about the nature and seriousness of the situation, which creates a delay time before starting evacuation movement.

4. Faced with ambiguous information and short time for decision making, people are likely

to apply a well-run decision plan when choosing an evacuation route, consequently moving toward their most familiar way out of the building.

5. Evacuation, and response to fire generally, is often a social response; people tend to act

as a group and to attempt to evacuate with people with whom they have emotional ties. 6. Problems that are encountered during normal building use will tend to persist and

exacerbate situations in emergencies. Included are faulty communication, circulation hazards, way-finding problems.

Strive for simplicity in all access and movement routes; this lessens the need for directional graphics and ushers.

Capacity handling channels should be continuous walking surfaces, such as ramps. Stairs are satisfactory to shorten channels not subject to heavy pedestrian loads. To the greatest extent possible, ingress systems should be “reversible” and usable whenever emergency egress is necessary.

Crowd Manager Training

Crowd Behavior and Management

Design Recommendations:

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Important: Area of Refuge is a stairwell in your school/ building that is designed to protect patrons during a fire. Disabled patrons can seek safe refuge in the stairwells until emergency responders rescue them.

Crowd Manager Training

Basic Movement Characteristics and Relationships Crowd movement is specified using three fundamental

characteristics: Flow = speed X density X width This formula is also used for motor vehicle traffic. 15

Crowd Manager Training Basic Movement Characteristics and Relationships 1. 21sq. Ft. per person will average about 4.1 feet per second

2. 4-5 persons at 2.6 sq. ft (elevator) movement is stopped.

Put into simple terms, the optimum flow conditions observed in uncontrolled total evacuation drills on a typical 1,120-mm (44-in.wide exit stair) in a well-populated office building evacuation are as follows: •Each person would occupy slightly less than two treads (stair width).

•There would be a descent of one storey every 15 seconds.

•One person per second would pass a fixed point.

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Crowd Manager Training

Delay Time to Start • The time occupants will take to initiate their evacuation movement once they have perceived some clues of the fire/emergency

evacuation. • In the calculation of an expected total time to evacuate a building, it is now a common practice

to add some time to account for a delay to start evacuation.

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Crowd Manager Training

Type of warning system

The way the building is designed may or may not provide occupants with visual access to the behavior of others, which could be an important source of information for people. Visual access could also improve the perception of fire clues or strobe lights as well as the location of the closest exit.

Visual access:

In buildings where occupants focus their attention on the stage, the screen, or the ambient atmosphere (e.g., at a discotheque , rave party gymnasiums), the animation of this focal point will have to stop and full lighting should resume for occupants to pay attention to the fire situation.

The fire alarm signal is usually the basic warning system

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Crowd Manager Training

Training is an essential part of a fast occupant response. Training is more a characteristic of the building than of people, since training should be specifically tailored to each building evacuation procedure. Although a person who has received training may transfer this knowledge to another location, it is common to observe that well-trained people did not take any action when the fire alarm rang in another building. Overall, training of the occupants is usually performed only in institutions such as schools and some work environments

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Crowd Manager Training Frequency of false alarm:

The number of false alarms in a building is an important determinant of the efficiency of this system to warn occupants. A large number of false alarms could be estimated at three or more alarms over a period of 6 months. A fire alarm signal, by itself, rarely triggers evacuation movement, unless training and other information is provided.

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Crowd Manager Training Familiarity:

Occupants who are familiar with a building, who have participated in evacuation drills, and are aware of the evacuation procedure are more likely to start evacuation rapidly.

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Crowd Manager Training Responsibility:

In single-family houses, occupants respond rapidly when the smoke alarm goes off because they know they are responsible for it; no one else will take care of that problem. In a public building, such as a museum or a shopping center, visitors don't feel responsible if the fire alarm goes off. They assume that they will be told if something is really happening. The delay to start will depend on the fast and precise voice communication information provided and the staff behavior and instruction.

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Crowd Manager Training Social affiliation: Occupants are likely to attempt to gather with people with whom they have emotional ties before starting evacuation, such as a family group. This activity of gathering members may take time, especially if members are not together at the start of the incident

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Crowd Manager Training

Commitment: People who are committed to an activity will take a long time to turn their attention toward an unexpected situation i.e.: gymnasiums. For example, people waiting in line to board a plane, eating in a restaurant, or gambling at the casino are all committed to these activities and will be reluctant to turn their attention to an alarm bell or some strange smell of smoke. However, at the cinema, if the movie is stopped and lights are turned on, attention of the occupants will be captured right away and information to prompt their time to start can be provided.

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Crowd Manager Training Alertness and limitation:

A fire in the middle of the night in a hotel or residential building will require a longer time to respond since most occupants will be asleep. Another dimension to this characteristic is the possibility that occupants may have some limitation that will extend their response time. These limitations could be perceptual, physical, or intellectual, or might be due to the consumption of medication, drugs, or alcohol. It is important to estimate the proportion of occupants who will have a longer delay time to start due to alertness conditions or a limitation.

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Crowd Manager Training

Staff or Administrator: The speed with which occupants will respond to the fire alarm or other fire cues is largely dependent on their status in the building and the behavior and instruction of staff and wardens. Consequently, the training of staff and wardens is paramount.

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Crowd Manager Training

Florida Fire Prevention Code: •12.2.3.8 Minimum Corridor Width. The width of any exit access corridor serving 50 or more persons shall be not less than 44 in. (1120 mm). •12.2.5.2 Access Through Hazardous Areas. Means of egress from a room or space for assembly purposes shall not be permitted through kitchens, storerooms, restrooms, closets, platforms, stages, projection rooms, or hazardous areas as described in 12.3.2.

•12.2.5.4.3* Access and egress routes shall be maintained so that crowd management, security, and emergency medical personnel are able to reach any individual at any time, without undue hindrance.

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Crowd Manager Training Florida Fire Prevention Code: 13.7.7.3* In the following assembly occupancies, an audible announcement shall be made, or a projected image shall be shown, prior to the start of each program that notifies occupants of the location of the exits to be used in case of a fire or other emergency: (1) Theaters (2) Motion picture theaters (3) Auditoriums (4) Other similar assembly occupancies with occupant loads (5) exceeding 300 where there are non-continuous programs. 13.7.7.4 The requirement of 13.7.7.3 shall not apply to assembly occupancies in schools where used for nonpublic events.

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Crowd Manager Training My primary responsibilities as a Crowd Manager is to: Keep all exits visible (remove all obstructions) Pre-plan emergency evacuation routes prior to any gatherings/assemblies Consult with and pre-plan emergency evacuations with EMS and Law

enforcement Make an emergency evacuation announcement prior to all

assemblies/gatherings, identifying the locations of emergency evacuation exits

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Please complete the five (5) question test and submit your results to the

Department of Security &

Environmental Management.

Thank you

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Please Circle the correct Answer: 1. A crowd manager is required when there is a gathering of_________ people or more. a. 50 b. 100 c. 1000 d. None of the above 2. The requirement of a crowd manager is a____________________ requirement. a. State of Florida b. Collier County Public School Board c. Collier County Ordinance d. None of the above 3. An area of refuge can be ______________. a. A stairwell b. Cafeteria c. Front yard d. None of the above

4. Access and egress routes shall be a. Blocked b. Have a few chairs in them c. Maintained so that crowd managers, security and emergency medical personnel are able to reach any individual at any time, without undue hindrance. 5. In an assembly, with occupancy of 50 or more, an

audible announcement shall be made notifying the occupants of the location of all exits.

a. True b. False _____________________Date_____________ Name of person taking this exam, Please Print ____________________________________________________ School / Assignment