Staying Calm in a Stuck Elevator and How Kings III Can Help

This blog post features a video of an actual call to Kings III’s emergency center in which a passenger stuck in an elevator freaked out and provides tips on what to do to keep calm should you find yourself panicking in a stuck elevator.

As seen in the above video, people don’t always stay calm when they get stuck in an elevator. In fact, it can even get a lot worse than what was shown above- extreme panic attacks can escalate the situation even further.

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You may have a distinct fear of getting stuck in an elevator. You may know you would likely not do well in an elevator entrapment because suffer from claustrophobia or a similar phobia. Or, finally, you may not realize that you would freak out in that situation until it happens to you. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: you are never going to expect to get stuck in an elevator. The unexpectedness of the situation can definitely inspire fear, and, in some cases, even panic. Keep the following tips in mind to stay calm should you find yourself in a panic during an elevator entrapment:

• Don’t try to get out of the stuck elevator yourself. This can be extremely dangerous, and an actual injury= increased panic. Instead, look in the elevator cab for an elevator phone and call for help.
• Take slow, steady breaths and focus on the action items you need to take to fix the situation rather than your feelings about the situation.
• If there are others with you in the elevator, try to talk to them about non-related subjects to ease your uncomfortableness and distract yourself from the situation.
• Keep in mind: the feeling of panic WILL pass. According to Psychology Today, sometimes panic attacks must be cured by simply letting the panic pass. Fredric Neuman M.D. talked to many of his patients who had gotten stuck in an elevator during a large blackout in the area and learned that those who had panic attacks within the elevator ALL had calmed down after about 30-45 minutes in! An added bonus: your exposure to this type of panic will likely diminish your fear for any similar future situations.

How Kings III Can Help

Not everyone can put up with the type of behavior that the stuck elevator passenger in the above video displayed. However, if you are a property manager, your occupants deserve that level of respect and care, no matter how they might be acting. You would not want them to associate a horrible experience with your own property! Kings III’s Emergency Dispatch Center operators are used to calls like these- they take over a million calls each year, so it’s safe to say they have experience with handling someone that is in a state of panic. In addition to their experience, our operators are also trained and certified at a higher level than other call centers (including 911 call centers!). One of these includes the AEMD certification. This means that our operators are certified to provide medical instruction to callers awaiting EMS once they have dispatched help out. For a stuck passenger experiencing or with someone experiencing panic, fainting, increased heart rate or even a heart attack, this can prove extremely essential. (Fun fact: one of our EDC operators once provided medical instructions to a woman who went into labor while stuck in an elevator!) Finally, if your elevator phones are linked to your own phone, your property’s security phones or any non-dedicated call center, there are going to be instances when a stuck elevator passenger may not be able to reach someone immediately. In situations of panic such as those mentioned above or some other instance of a health problem or an injury, this can be extremely dangerous. Kings III’s Emergency Dispatch Center is fully staffed and operated 24/7/365, so someone will always be there to answer the call. We even have a redundant backup call center in case of a power outage. That means that your occupants will receive the help that the require no matter what day or time it is- even if you’re enjoying your turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day!

For more general tips on getting stuck in an elevator, see our blog post: “How to Handle Getting Stuck in an Elevator.” To learn more about Kings III, visit www.kingsiii.com.