After the cast of ABC’s Modern Family became entrapped in an elevator before a charity fundraiser in Kansas City, Doherty & Buckman was contacted by Inside Edition to discuss what to do when stuck in an elevator. Elevator expert Kevin Doherty gave three tips: stay calm, call for help, and wait it out. Watch his interview below, and read the full story by Inside Edition.
New York – October 29, 4PM ET – Hurricane Sandy is prepared to make landfall shortly. We are advising the public in affected areas to avoid elevators until the storm has completely passed.
Major storms including hurricanes and tropical storms can disrupt electrical power distribution. Electrical disruptions and outages will cause elevator entrapments if the elevator is in use when power is lost. In order to avoid becoming entrapped, elevators must not be used until the storm has passed. If an entrapment occurs response times may be excessive if emergency personnel are unavailable or if roads are impassable.
Rescuing entrapped passengers presents significant hazards to the passengers and emergency personnel even when there is not a major storm taking place. Therefore it is imperative that the public avoid elevators until Hurricane Sandy has completely passed. If you become entrapped, never attempt to escape the disabled elevator; Use the emergency phone or alarm bell to signal for help and wait to be rescued by emergency personnel or elevator personnel.
For more information on Hurricane Sandy, visit the National Weather Service National Hurricane Center For other information on hurricane preparedness visit FEMA at Ready.gov.
For information for building owners on how to prepare an elevator for a major storm or flood, check out Elevator World’s guide on preparing elevators for hurricanes.
Multiple news agencies are reporting an incident that occurred Thursday, August 16, 2012, at about 8:40 a.m. According to the New York Post, the superintendent at 602 W. 190th Street was attempting to retrieve a set of keys after a passenger dropped the keys into the elevator pit.
The victim, who was not named in the reports, was apparently in the pit when he suffered head trauma after being struck by the elevator’s descending counterweight assembly. A typical counterweight assembly weighs thousands of pounds and travels at the same speed as the elevator, hundreds of feet per minute.
OSHA requirements generally define the elevator pit as a confined space, which should only be accessed by trained personnel. Only authorized elevator personnel should access the pit due to the hazards it presents.
Read the full story:
Suzanne Hart, 41, was crushed to death on Wednesday morning when the elevator she was entering at 285 Madison Avenue moved upward without warning, pinning her in the gap between the hoistway wall and the elevator cab, crushing her lower body between the first and second floors, as two passengers looked on. They received treatment for psychological trauma. The aftermath of the impact was so severe it caused engineers to shut down the entire building due to structural concerns.
The New York City Department of Buildings is investigating the incident, and stated that electrical work that morning by the elevator contractor had become the focus of the investigation.
Read the full story: Elevator Was Serviced Just Before Accident – NY Times, Elevator Work Under Review, Investigators Seek Cause of Accident That Killed Woman – Wall Street Journal
Read the full story on ABC News – Repairman charged in Brooklyn elevator accident
At a press conference on December 15th, 2011, Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes announces the indictment of an elevator repairman for reckless assault. Doherty & Buckman’s efforts in the investigation which secured the indictment are acknowledged by DA Charles Hynes in the opening thanks and remarks.
Read the press release at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s website
48-year-old Annette Lujan of Huntington Beach, California, was crushed early Wednesday morning by an elevator on the third floor of the Foundation building at Cal State Long Beach University.
The elevator was stuck between floors and when Lujan tried to escape, the elevator dropped on her, pinning her between the top of the cab and the 3rd floor landing, according to Capt. Rich Brandt of the Long Beach Fire Department. According to a university spokesperson, a bystander was trying to assist Lujan out of the elevator.
Of the two elevators in the building, one elevator had been shut down weeks prior, including the day of the accident. The second elevator, where the accident occurred, remains out of service. Records indicate the elevator where the accident occurred was last inspected on April 5 and passed with no problems. OSHA was on site on Thursday investigating the accident, but there is no word yet on any findings.
Long Beach fire officials stressed the importance of staying inside the elevator, remaining calm, and waiting for trained rescuers when entrapments occur.
Read the full story: Woman killed in CSULB elevator – Daily 49er, Campus elevators to be inspected after death – Daily 49er
The Good Wife actor Josh Charles and director David M. Rosenthal were among 14 people who were inside an elevator at the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan when the elevator malfunctioned and departed down with the doors still open.
Rosenthal reported that the elevator was already full when two additional passengers forced their way inside, apparently overloading the elevator and causing it to drop eight stories before the over-speed governor applied the emergency brakes.
No one was injured and the cause of the malfunction has not yet been determined. Hotel officials said the elevator would be thoroughly inspected before being placed back into service.
Read the full story: Actors plummet eight floors in falling hotel elevator after Janie Jones film premiere party – Mail Online
State public-safety officials recently shut down escalators at a department store in Auburn, Massachusetts, after a 4-year-old Dudley, Massachusetts, boy died in another of the same mall’s stores on March 18. The boy reportedly slipped through a gap at a second-floor escalator and fell 18 feet onto a display case. Authorities did not give a specific reason for the shutdown. Inspectors are rechecking 25 escalators across the state in the wake of the accident.
Read the full story: Mass. boy dies after falling from mall escalator – Boston.com
On March 4, a 21 year-old waitress in Oklahoma City fell down the dumbwaiter shaft at the restaurant in which she was working. The victim was taken to the hospital but succumbed to her injuries. Investigators believe the waitress was loading or unloading the dumbwaiter when it suffered a mechanical malfunction, fell to the ground and pulled her with it. A full investigation of the accident is underway. OSHA is also expected to conduct an investigation.
Read the full story: Woman dies in fall down dumbwaiter shaft – UPI.com