Long-time lurker, first post. I work in an office building attached to Grand Central Station in Manhattan, and I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions you may have.

Thanks!


Everybody Immediately Evacuate The Building

"Everybody immediately evacuate the building" is not what you want to hear on your office PA system while sitting at your desk in the early evening. Yet this is precisely what I heard yesterday at about 6pm, right after I commented to my neighbor about the loud rumbling, thunder-like sound that had lasted entirely too long.

Having survived a harrowing evacuation from the World Trade Center almost six years ago, I like to think that the simple precautions I take in my life make it more likely that I will survive the next disaster than would otherwise be the case. Yesterday's experience provides an opportunity to look at my preparations and actions, and I would appreciate your comments.

EDC / Available Equipment

I work in a suit-and-tie office environment, so an extensive collection of EDC tools carried on my person is not practical. However, I do keep emergency kits at my desk and in my briefcase. These kits include water, a flashlight, battery-powered radio, and an N-95 face mask. Additionally, I usually keep a pair of old sneakers as well as shorts and a t-shirt in my desk, in the event I know I am going to have to walk home to Brooklyn from my midtown office. I also carry a Blackberry device as does my wife. It is pre-loaded with my wife's PIN number. My experience on 9/11/01 was that Blackberry PIN to PIN communications were the only reliable wireless communications, and I'm hoping that this will be the case in any future disaster as well.

The Evacuation

There had been scattered thunderstorms around Manhattan all day, so I did not initially notice the rumbling sound I heard while sitting at my desk. However, as it grew louder and continued for about 30 seconds I began to get concerned. I commented to my neighbor who noted that the sound must be pretty loud outside (our window faces north onto 45th street at Park Avenue. The explosion was at 41s street and Lexington) and I scanned the news websites to see if there was any information available. Relatively quickly the announcement came over the building PA system to evacuate the building immediately.

Upon hearing the announcement, I immediately left my desk and began moving towards the fire stairs in the center of the building. Potential mistake #1: In my haste I did not grab either my briefcase or my emergency bag, both of which were within arms reach while sitting at my desk. My Blackberry was clipped to my belt, so that's all I left with.

People were beginning to move into the central corridor and make their way to the elevators. I passed a friend in the hallway and as I did simply said "stairs." He asked if we would set off an alarm if we opened the fire door to the stairs and I commented that I didn't think it mattered at this point, and he followed me to the staircase.

We headed down the stairs at as fast as I thought I could go without risking injury, and I made a point to count floors for the first three floors until I noted that each landing was well marked as to what floor we were on. Our offices are on the 11th floor and when we were about halfway down it dawned on me that I should have taken a second more the grab my emergency bag, as I had no idea what to expect when we hit the street. To be honest, my worst case fear was a dirty bomb at Grand Central Station (to which my office building is attached) and I was kicking myself for leaving the N-95 mask behind. My friend commented that I could go back for supplies if I wanted to, but he was getting out of the building, and I agreed. Incredibly, we did not see a single other person evacuating by way of the fire stairs.

The path to the exit was very clearly marked, and as I got ready to open the door I steeled myself for whatever scene I'd be confronted with. Much to my surprise, we found ourselves not in the building lobby or on the street but in a loading dock covered by the Park Avenue overpass where it goes around Grand Central. People were running north while looking over their shoulders, and looking very scared. I jumped down from the loading dock (not high, but potentially stupid if I had turned my ankle and lost my mobility) and looked south to see a large amount of what appeared to be white smoke rising from near the south end of Grand Central.

At this point my thoughts were that if this was a terrorist attack, I had survived the initial blast and was unlikely to be in immediate danger, but I needed to avoid contamination if it was radiological in nature. As I walked north a few blocks I noted that the wind was in my face and that the smoke appeared to be drifting south and west, so I felt relatively secure in the short term. I used my Blackberry to send an e-mail to my wife letting her know that I had evacuated my office, was heading north, and would contact her again when possible. I also stopped into a drugstore and purchased a package of dust masks as some insurance against the wind shifting. While not as good as the N-95 masks I had left behind, I figured it was better than nothing.

I continued to head north as all manner of emergency services (including FDNY Hazmat Trucks, who responded remarkably quickly through rush-hour traffic) headed south. Eventually I was able to get an open connection and called my mother who turned on the TV and reported that it was likely a Con Ed equipment failure. I finally began to relax, though I continued to head north to a friend's apartment from where I could plot my return to Brooklyn.

Debrief

1) My instincts were good. When I heard an unusual noise I upped my personal threat condition and was ready to take action immediately when I got the information to leave the building. Of course, I should have prepared my gear, not gone online.
2) My office's emergency procedures failed miserably. In all the drills we have been told that in the event of an emergency information would be communicated telling us the nature of the emergency and the suggested actions we should take. All we got was "evacuate the building immediately" over the PA. For all we knew the building was about to come down on our heads, when in reality we were relatively secure. This led to confusion.
3) It is amazing to me how many otherwise intelligent and well educated people went right to the elevators when told to evacuate the building due to an emergency.
4) Most of my equipment preparations were useless to me, as I left both bags of supplies at my desk. This was potentially very stupid, and I need to find a way to carry more gear on my person or place it in such a way that it will not be left behind.
5) My concerns about radiological contamination were unfounded, but there was an unknown amount of asbestos released in the explosion. Moving upwind and getting on a facemask was a wise idea, and should be SOP.
6) Communications worked about as well as could be expected. My e-mails got through to my wife, while phone service was sketchy. I never had to resort to text or PIN messaging. Being able to check the web from my phone was useless – news websites were not updated fast enough to provide actionable information. I wished I had a battery powered radio for immediate news (of course, there were two at my desk, useless to me).
7) I have a one-year old son who attends a daycare center in my office building. His mom had picked him up about 20 minutes before the explosion. If he had still been there when the evacuation was ordered I would have had my hands full and a lot to think about in tracking him down and trying to keep him safe. Similarly, I knew that my wife was already on the way home, so I did not need to try and coordinate meeting up with her (she works ½ mile north of me). If this had happened earlier in the day (or been more serious) our communications plans would have been more severely taxed. Any suggestions on how to deal with kids in an urban emergency?
8) NYC emergency services are amazing. The amount of equipment and personnel flooded into the area quickly was remarkable.
9) While this was indeed a frightening event that brought back many bad memories and was tragic for the (remarkably) few people injured or killed, in the end I hope to make it a useful exercise to help me improve my preparations.
10) I welcome your comments. Please, no comments on how I should leave NYC if I want to be safe. It is a discussion I've already had with my wife and is not in the cards right now. I simply need to figure out how to best keep my family safe, given our current situation.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It is very informative to have first-hand knowledge like yours posted so everyone can learn from it.

In my opinion, you did a very good job at keeping your head throughout the panic. The only snafu you exhibited was grabbing your emergency gear before you evacuated, but you redeemed yourself by keeping your head straight from that point forward (i.e., taking the stairs instead of the elevator and considering different possibilities during and after evacuation).

As far as grabbing your emergency gear, I really cannot think of anything that will help you remember to grab it when you need to. Other than doing the regular checkup/resupply of your emergency kits so they can be "fresh in your mind" (as opposed to a bag that's sat in a drawer for years), I'm not sure there's anything else that will help you remember to grab it when you need it.

One thing I can suggest, if it's not the case already, use something like a fanny pack (or backpack if you have a lot of stuff) for your emergency kit. Briefcases are unwieldy as hell during an evacuation.

One thing that surprises me about the evacuation (other than hordes of people taking the stairs despite all the signs) is that no one pulled a fire alarm switch on the wall. I would think that who ever is in charge of the P.A. announcement would also do this. Fire alarms are linked to the elevator controllers (as per NFPA regulations, I believe), so that elevators automatically travel to the primary floor and stay there during alarm. Simply pulling the fire alarm would prevent people from using the elevator when they shouldn't and it might also make any response by emergency personnel much faster.

Otherwise, it sounds like you're pretty well covered.

-- Addition --

One other thing I can suggest is to scout the exits on buildings you frequent in the future, that way you know what location you'll be going to before you open the exit doors.

It sounds like you had a great live-fire exercise from which you will be better prepared mentally, the next time an incident occurs.

Give equal time and thought to what you did right (fire stairs, communications,getting a mask, direction of movement), as well as what didn't work well (forgetting PSK).

Congratulations! In the event of an actual terrorist attack, you'd probably have still been able to post your bulletin, because you're ALIVE!!!!!

If your son is in a daycare in the same building with you I would suggest that you find out what their emergency evac plans are. I know that if I could get my child I would. So that being said how about some supplies for your Son? small toy, dust mask, water and even a juice box or two? Not to mention sanitary supplies. (diapers and such).
As the Father of 3 girls I am a little protective (my wife says over protective no such thing) I would want them under MY care and protection.

Lets look at some kit that will suit your suit.To begin with, proper leather shoes and a suit of natural materials is going to provide greater protection than the business casual slob look. Do you wear pocket squares? A silk or irish linen handkerchief is an expedient face mask and trauma bandage. www.mulberrywood.com ( just don't tell David or Noina I suggested such use!)A pair of fine leather gloves will slip into a breast pocket, and if exhibiting a slight bulge, fit in with your ensemble to the curious.Get a good PHOTON for your keychain. There are some very good miniature radios, one sold by a vendor/poster here,that are unobtrusive. Even water can be had in a few mylar envelopes. Again, unobtrusive, but enough to wet a handkerchief or assist swallowing medications.

Jesselp,

Greetings and welcome to the fire...er, steam geyser. You mentioned you have a 1-yr old in the building's daycare. In the event of an evacuation how would you carry the child? One thing you might want to add to your stash of gear is some sort of baby sling like the Mayan Wrap. This will allow you to carry the kid as well as a backpack or briefcase. The sling can also be used for many other things as it is basically just a big peice of cloth which folds down small. Best of all, you don't look like a complete goober when you us it. I have a fleece one for "winter" (I'm in Houston) use and a cotton one for the other eleven months. Both were made by my wife from fabric I picked out. I love them.

-Blast

Bravo!

I'm rather new to the ETS forums myself, but allow me to extend the hand of welcome... or is that olive branch? No, that's peace... anyway, welcome to the forums.

I think your overall performance in this crisis was excellent. You have already carefully analysed your performance and found a few mistakes; I can see none that you haven't already seen yourself. They were:

1) Forgot your bag
2) Had no familiarity with the stairs you used for egress
3) Jumped off the loading dock

Corrections to these problems that you can make:

1) Don;t forget the bag next time
2) You know the stairs now. Check out all the others soon, in case they are blocked in a future evac scenario
3) Don't jump off any more loading docks, especially not in a suit and suit-worthy shoes

I would place Matt26's suggestion as the #1 priority. My only other concern was that if your wife picked up your son only 20 minutes before, how did you know that? Did she, or the daycare center, confirm that she had picked him up? In a crisis, knowing where your son is and how to get to him will naturally be your primary concerns, so don't wait till the next crisis to research the daycare center's procedures and formulate a plan for yourself.

JCWohlschlag's suggestion about the fire alarm is also excellent. I would suggest communicating this suggestion to your building management, as well as requesting a thorough review of the building's emergency procedures; somebody was off the track with the PA announcement, and it also sounds to me like your building has no set rendezvous places for the tenants in the event of an evac.

My building not only has an evac plan, but we conduct evac drills once perr year, and we have rendezvous points for each group and floor. I work in a much smaller office than yours, in the suburbs of Baltimore. We're not crammed into a high-rise, and we have plenty of open area around the building; setting up rendezvous and check-in procedures might be difficult for you in such a dense urban environment, but it's something to suggest.

The purpose of the rendezvous and check-in is to make certain that everybody is out of the building; this reduces the possibility that firefighters might have to risk their lives searching for trapped people, and gives everybody a destination that they can program into their brains in advance. And if everyone knows where to go, it will be easier to find your son, and easier to share resources such as water or first-aid supplies, and much easier for the authorities to disseminate information and instructions.

Your story has inspired me - I am the fire warden for my section of the building, and normally just get everyone out and take a roll call. But I am going to put together a BOB for evacs with some of the stuff you have in yours (water, flashlight, radio, and FAK).

Here's a first hand report from a good friend who was right there.

I was on 42nd and Lex, about to walk into the subway when the steampipe popped.

First there was a huge >>kaboom<<, followed by what I now know to be
escaping steam, but to my neophyte ears sounded like a jet engine
roaring.

The crowd of pedestrians stampeded... many into the subways, dragging
me along with them (the entrance at Lex on the corner of 42nd).

The plume of steam jetted hundreds of feet in the air, and small
chunks of asphalt rained down intermittently.

My friend and I fell back to 43 and lex, smoked a few cigs (in light
of the asbestos being tossed around, was idiotic... at best) and
watched women take off their heeled shoes and run "bat outta
hell"-like down the street.

All the while many were going on about the terrorists. I kind of
sussed out that it was a HVAC type dealie when the torrent of smoke
contined to flood the street.

Lots of people went to bars immediately following the blast.. which is
a fairly common response to abject horror. ^_^

In the end, everyone seemed pretty calm immediately following the
event. I'm amazed that noone got cooked outright by the steamblast, or
walloped by the debris.

This guy is a pretty cool person, I'm glad he was OK.

I agree with finding unobtrusive items that you can carry in the office. One thing you might consider is a Mission Wallet -- use it for organizing and carrying small stuff. I carry a Peak Matterhorn Ultra 1xAAA LED, a small Swiss Army knife, ID and a couple $20's in mine.

I don't know which N-95 mask you have, but the medical masks we have here fold flat and would disappear in an inside suit pocket. Having minimal gear in your pockets is always a good thing.

Mindset: This event was a good dry-run, use it as a learning opportunity. Next time you should remember this event and think about your kit. Did you have a subconscious "what am I missing?" feeling before you consciously thought about your kit? You should have a conscious thought about that kit earlier next time.

Fortunately, I traded my briefcase in for a backpack and my oxfords in for cross-trainers years ago. My subconscious would put the backpack over my shoulder before my conscious mind caught up.

Thanks for the info -- Real life is always a good teacher. I might add a light jacket to your kit, paper printout of telephone numbers, map of the area and some food.

The biggest concern seems to be your child -- Perhaps a plan (that both of you know) that says who will do what in another such situation -- and that the person with the kid will contact friend "X" as soon as possible to let the other know the kid is safe.

All such large events have in commmon that communication breaks dowm and is not restored for some time. Keep that in mind when planning.

Teacher

( who once evacuated a building with shoes, but no socks... ouch)