It's an impressive idea: high-rise escape cabins that can be lowered outside a high-rise in an emergency, allowing hundreds to escape quickly and safely. Jonathan "Yoni" Shimshoni and a team of inventors in Israel came up with the idea after they watched a television documentary about victims trapped on the upper floors of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
But New York City's Office of Emergency Management has concerns about the new system and won't issue the necessary building permits. Among the city's concerns: there would be confusion over who would operate the system during an emergency; using windows as escape routes can help a fire spread; passengers in the cabins risk passing floors immersed in flames; and the system would be prone to the Titanic effect — chaos over who would be first in line for a limited number of spots in each cabin.
Fair enough, but this invention is a wonderful first step, and one way or another each of these concerns must be addressed and resolved. It is, or should be, simply unacceptable to have no way to safely and quickly evacuate high rise occupants in an emergency. We can do better. Those who lead the way toward greater safety deserve credit and our help.
Hi,
I came across your article on Escape Rescue and thought you might like to see the current state of the art in self rescue technology for high rise buildings.
I know Yoni Shimshoni and am a member of his Safe Evacuation Coalition. My company makes a product that does the same ting in a different fashion. Check it out when you get time at:
http://www.highriseescapesystems.com
Regards,
Robert Kirkland
Sr. Partner
HRES
Posted by: Robert Kirkland | August 03, 2006 at 12:12 PM