Stuck in an elevator

Has anyone ever been stuck in an elevator?

I never considered myself claustrophobic, that is until the other day, when the elevator doors wouldn't open (mechanical failure, not power outage). I couldn't believe how quickly the "panic" set in, even if the lights stayed on, and this happened in a busy office building during work hours when I knew that lots of people were around. (I was alone in the elevator.)

After realizing that the elevator wasn't moving, and the doors wouldn't open,
I pressed the "call" button. There was a taped message, but a live operator did not come on. Next I tried the alarm buzzer several times. No response. Turned to my cell phone. No reception. Put my finger on the alarm buzzer and kept it there. Still no response.

In desperation and "knowing" that it was a futile effort, I tried to pry the doors open. And lo and behold, I got it apart a few inches, then the doors slid open the rest of the way. Luckily I was still on the ground floor. Phew!

I work in this building, and the stairs are not an option (locked), so I was wondering if anyone out there has some advice and/or knowledge about elevators and what other options/actions could be taken.

Someone said that if you push the stop button, that disengages the doors so that you can open them. It also keeps the elevator from restarting and possibly crushing you between floors. Does anyone know if this is true? I've been in a couple of newer elevators since, and notice that a key is needed to activate the stop function, so the stop button wouldn't be an option there...

Any other suggestions or ideas on how to deal with a recalcitrant elevator are appreciated. How about suggestions for dealing with the "panic"? The small elevator instantly became oppressive, airless and unbearable.

There was a story on the news recently about a guy who got stuck in an elevator for a whole week. At the time, it was just an interesting story, but now I wonder how he survived.

Sorry that this is so long, but thanks for any ideas/suggestions.

Gads. First of all, contact the maintenance or facilities manager immediately regarding the inoperative alarm bell. That is likely to be a major OSHA violation.

Second, learn the ins and outs of the elevator. Does it have an escape hatch in the top?

Third - there's always the option of banging on the elevator doors, LOUDLY, if the alarm bell doesn't work. The only embarrassment that will ensue from this will be on the part of the maintenance people who allowed that to happen in the first place.

Fourth - stal calm. I've never heard of anybody suffocating in an elevator.

Many years ago, a fellow co-worker and I got stuck. The elevator had dual doors. The inside ones opened and the outside ones did not. We were stuck between floors over the weekend for several hours. I can't say that I was anxious or anything. Since we were both smokers, we did what you'd expect any drug-dependant person to do, which was light up a butt. That was interesting, until we discovered there was no place for the smoke to go. I think we each had one more smoke after that 1st one, until the folks from Otis arrived.

I don't know anything about elevators, but having the stairs "locked" sounds like a really bad idea from a safety viewpoint.

Peter

I too thought about this. My number one option as a smoke is to make smoke. That ought to get anyones attention as much as folks hate smokers. Second as a member of this site is to carry a light with me. THat wont help you get out, but help if its a power failure or make noise. My cell phone doesnt always work, so much like in your shoes. If the call button dont work, not the buttons, I would just jump around to make noise and try to pry the doors open. Even if you are between floors, having the doors open in a power failure could ensure you get air. I guess with the elevelator in park or stopped you could wiggle out or climb up to another floor then use the steps.

If its a real fire, elevelator shafts are great for venting smoke out of a building and harming the passengers. In a power failure, they get hot.

Been stuck a few times.

It helps to realize that the elevators have some great safety features, so falling is not an option. Being stuck is.

The most memorable was a friday afternoon as I was heading home. 11 Electrical construction guys crowded on the elevator with me. Some jerk started jumping up and down saying "watch this". He tripped the earthquake sensor, stopping the elevator.

That was bad planning, since the maintenance guys had just left for the weekend. It took an hour or so to reset the elevator controls. 2 hours shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of sweaty, stinky, foul mouthed Western Electric apes. Not a fun time.

Daniel

Thanks for the replies.

I should have been clearer about a few points. The stairs are fire exits that allow those on upper floors to access the stairwell to get out on the ground floor of the building, but will not let you get back in. (The stairway doors on the upper floors are locked on the "inside.")

Regarding the alarm bell, I believe it worked as it should (quite loud actually), and at the very least, could be heard in all of the suites close to the elevators. The problem is, no one responded to the alarm. Perhaps people think of it in much the same way they do about car alarms--ignoring it unless it pertains to them personally...? Then again, the alarm itself might be a problem--there were two guys outside the elevator, and they asked about the "fire" alarm.

I was thinking about banging on the elevator doors, and that probably would have been my next step if I couldn't get the doors open.

Regarding the "panic," I don't know how to explain it. In the past, I didn't think it was a big deal to get stuck in an elevator (unless you urgently needed to get to a bathroom!). As long as the building wasn't vacant, you knew you would get out, hopefully sooner rather than later. I thought, so what if you had to wait an hour or two? Just sit back and if nothing else, catch a little shut-eye. And if the lights went out, no problem, since I "always" carry a bunch of flashlights (what an opportunity!)...

What I wasn't prepared for, is how, without warning, that elevator instantly became a suffocating "prison." Intellectually, I knew that I wouldn't be stuck there forever, and that oxygen was not a problem (fan was still running), but I couldn't control the rising panic over the thought of being "trapped." I "knew" it was all "in my head," but controlling it was another matter.

One thing I wonder about--would I have been less panicked if there were others in the elevator with me? Probably would depend on the other person(s), adn how they reacted to the situation.

Another excuse to carry a light with a long runtime. :twothumbs

Everytime I get in an elevator, I look for the escape hatch in the ceiling. Sometimes you see it, some times its hidden under decorative panels or mirrors, if its there at all.

best regards

I've been stuck in a lift twice.
Both at the supermarket I used to work at.

The first time was in a small lift - I was taking a cage (approx 1 m square x 1.8 m tall) full of juice and squash to the shopfloor. The lift is about 2 m high x 1 m deep and 1.3 m wide. I'm not sure I could fit in now-a-days but I could four years ago!

The lift stopped between the warehouse and the shopfloor and "waited" for about 10 minutes for the hydraulic oil to cool. The lifts get used a lot and this would happen every now and then. The lift could be manually raised or lowered via "rod" that had to be pumped from the wall above the call buttons (not from inside). That was far too much like hard work so it was just left to cool.

I'm think that knowing what was wrong, and knowing that it would be resolved quickly meant that I just stood there calmly (it' such a tight space all anyone could do is stand!). There's okay airflow and it was quite cool.


The second time was in the warehouse lift. It could hold about a dozen cages with no space for people. The lift was empty save for one trolley of stock and I was going down with a girl (not my girlfriend) when it stopped about 1 m from the goods in floor. We will stuck in there for about 20 minutes. We sat at opposite corners pretty much in silence. Didn't stop the rumours though!
I was dating a girl who worked at the same supermarket at the time.

I will a bit worried that the girl would panic. Perhaps panic because she was stuck in a lift, or perhaps panic because she was stuck in a lift with me.
We chatted for a few minutes. I explained that it was not uncommon for the lifts to stop when they were heavily used. She seemed quite relaxed although there was quite a lot of shouting through the doors.

It would have been extremely difficult to exit the lift - the roof and floor do not have any hatches or panels that can be removed. The doors were manual sliding ones that I guess could be forced.

I admit I do look for access hatches/removable panels in lifts I get into!

Al

P.S.
Edit: "trolley" not "tolley" (sorry!)

Al, what is a tolley? That's a new term for me.

I used to work art a place that was a 3-story building with a hydraulic freight elevator. The elevator was the type where the doors had to be manually opened and closed by the user. If the doors were open, it wouldn't move.

People had a bad habit of taking the elevator, then leaving the doors open on the floor where they got off. Most infuriating when you need to move a load of equipment from floor to floor and you're looking into the window of the outer door and you can see the elevator sitting at the floor below.

Well it was a long walk from one end of the building to the other to get to the next floor and retrieve the elevator, so a few of us wacko techies became adept at popping the exterior door, then crawling down the shaft and jumping into the elevator to retrieve it. That was back in the days when upper management looked the other way as long as you got the job done! I would never consider doing that today (although I would certainly use that as a last resort to extricate myself from a struck elevator if I was out of other workable options).

I vaguely remember being stuck in an elevator when I was very little but I'm not sure. I have been stuck in stopped subway trains many times during rush hour which isn't that much different from being stuck in a crowded elevator (probably worse actually). Often, you don't even have enough room to put two feet on the floor, and you're elbow to elbow with everyone touching places that would be socially inappropriate in any other situation, or worse standing with your nose under the armpit of someone who hasn't bathed in three weeks. It's really bad when a train stops on a banked curve and everyone gets shoved to one side, especially when the only thing to keep from falling is to grab onto another person. Oh, and if you happen to stop on a dead portion of track and the lights and A/C go out, whew! :sick2: Being stuck in an elevator? Piece of cake compared to that.

jtr, that's a good point. Also a good reason for anyone who rides a subway to EDC.

Of course I'm preaching to the choir here!

I have gotten stuck once in an elevator. Never again did one feel as comforting as the day they did before it happened. The power went out half way up. Now whenever I get on one, I typically look for one with someone else in it just to help me feel better. And whenever its moving, I feel the slightest littlest tiniest bumps and think its about to stop everytime...it sucks...

Cameron

Dont worry flashfan, I am 6 3 tall 315 pounds and scared to death of bugs. I hate flying, crawling and hopping insects. To my surprise my dad had three bugs in his car yesterday. A bee, horse fly and a dead fly. Saw one as I took out my trash. After opening the winder on the door it wouldnt fly out, I opened the door. It left. Walked around to get in my side again. Sat, put on seat belt and buzz, buzz, buzz. A horse fly was at the same door and winder. Opening the winder made him leave. Then hit the ac controls and UGH, a dead fly feet up on the dash board next to the button. Later that day a grass hopper is laying on its back on the dash front and center. No sooner we start driving does it hop to life and start crawling up the windshield towards me. At least it hopped out.

Luckily I never have been. I'm still a bit wary about them for this reason. When I first got out of the Army (the Active Army) I worked security at the building that housed Discovery Communications Inc., (the Discovery and Learning Chanel). The elevators there would get stuck all the time. I'd get a page or a call from the monitoring company (door alarms and elevators were monitored by the same company) that someone was stuck at least a couple times a week. For a two week period it was everyday except for maybe one or two, and sometimes it happened more than once in the day. Ever since then I've been a bit wary about elevators. I never took those, I just took the stairs everytime in that building.

I've been stuck a couple of times, and neither time was particularly croweded - in fact, once it was only two of us - a co worker, female, but no rumors - we were stuck about 3 minutes - and she was terrified - me? I said "We'll, looks like we'll be here a while", put my stuff down, and sat down - no sense being uncomfortable when you can sit

I got stuck in an elevator once for about 5 minutes. Didn't bother me. I never thought I had any problem with claustrophobia until I was about 35 and had to have an MRI in one of those long cylindrical chambers that they roll you into on your back. It was cramped, my arms were brushing up against the inside of the thing. I was supposed to lie still for about 2 minutes while the guy shot all the pix. After about 1 minute I started feeling really paranoid even though the thing was open on each end and I knew there was no danger. But damn the next minute was really tense. Never had that feeling before or since. I think the fact that I couldn't really move was the problem.

I've always been told the hatches on top of the elevator don't open from the inside. They are intended for the FD to get to you from the outside. If you open it from the inside and climb through, then you're stuck on top of the elevator, which isn't that much better than being stuck inside.

paulr said:

I've always been told the hatches on top of the elevator don't open from the inside. They are intended for the FD to get to you from the outside. If you open it from the inside and climb through, then you're stuck on top of the elevator, which isn't that much better than being stuck inside.

Click to expand...

No doubt that hatches are meant to be accessed from the outside but having them (knowing they are there) is better than not!

The movies certainly have a lot of answer for!!

The lift at work has ALMOST done me in, it's old, cranky, and acts like it. There was one time when the lift ignored every button, went all the way to the top of the building, then came down again, and I was thinking "well, stuck in a lift - this is it". Fortunately, the lift then went all the way to the bottom and the doors opened. Damn lift.. I took the stairs that day.

I need to look for the hatch, it may be behind the false ceiling. At least I know my U2 WILL cut it, but you guys are making me have second thoughts about EDC'ing my Leatherman Wave. The pliers on that are a heckofalot stronger if I ever need to force anything.....