An elevator is a complex electromechanical system designed to lift people and goods to the desired floor. This is potentially a source of increased danger. The device may fail at any time. And although the car will not fall, it will still stop between floors.

In order to get out, you need to figure out how to open the elevator. It is worth clarifying right away that it is wiser to wait it out. But sometimes the situation develops in such a way that you need to get out immediately.

What to do if you get stuck in an elevator

If the elevator suddenly stops and does not move, do not panic. He will not fall, because all elevators are equipped with special mechanisms – catchers. The catchers automatically start braking the elevator as soon as it moves faster than the preset speed. However, if the cable breaks, the cab will come to a sudden stop.

The main thing is not to panic

Keep calm when the elevator stops working. First of all, you need to contact the operator. To do this, click on the call button for the emergency service dispatcher. This button is usually found at the bottom of the panel. You may need to repeat this action several times. After waiting for a response, tell the operator what the problem is and state the address of your location. In the future, proceed according to the instructions received from the operator. As a rule, you will first be given advice on how to get out of this situation on your own: check if the doors are tightly closed or try to press the buttons in various combinations. If your actions do not lead to the desired result, then a master will come to you, who will eliminate the emergency and free you.

What to do if the elevator needs to be opened from the car

How to open the elevator from the inside? You need to understand that a special algorithm of actions was developed to help everyone stuck, and initially you need to adhere to it:

Do not panic. Sometimes people suffer more from mass hysteria than from the very fact of being in a cockpit between floors. Therefore, you need to relax, breathe and prepare yourself for the wait.
Get out the light source. Often a car stop is associated with a lack of electricity in the house, and emergency power does not work in all elevators. Therefore, you need to get a flashlight or phone to illuminate the space. Light is needed not so much as a psychological factor to stay calm, but rather to illuminate the buttons.
Press the special call button. Every elevator is equipped with it, and at any time of the day you can contact a representative of the elevator economy. This is the safest and most reliable way to open an elevator.
When the special button does not work, you can call the rescue service. A single number throughout the country – 112. Works on all mobile operators.
If both options did not work, you need to find the “open doors” button on the panel. It is marked with a sign with diverging arrows. If the button does not work, then you need to try to press the “close doors” button. It is indicated by converging arrows. Perhaps, it has “sticky”, and because of this, the signal to “open the doors” does not work. Then press “open doors” again.
Another option, how to open the elevator doors, is to try to press the number with the floor number on the panel, which is located immediately below the car.
If you cannot call the elevator operator or call the rescue service, then you need to attract the attention of those outside. To do this, you can shout or knock. You cannot jump in the elevator – this is prohibited, as it causes a weight difference.
If nothing works, then you need to wait. This is the safest option.

The thing is that it is very difficult to open the door from the inside of the elevator, almost impossible. The cab doors can be squeezed out with the right tool, but mine doors are more difficult. They are often opened only with a special key and from the outside.

The process of opening elevator doors from the outside

If you still cannot wait for help from a qualified elevator, then you can try to open the elevator doors from the outside.

Modern elevators are equipped with special buttons, when pressed, you can open locked doors from the outside.

Internal doors can be simply opened from the inside. To do this, you need to use physical force and push them apart. As a support, you can use the tools at hand, such as an umbrella or cane.

External doors, however, can be very difficult to open. In this case, you can try to use the hook by prying with it the mechanism that is responsible for closing the doors. But this may not always be justified, since at the moment of opening the external doors, certain layers engage the rollers, as a result of which the locking device moves.

In addition, door opening can be controlled using an electrical contact. In such a situation, it is recommended to use a lever or roller acting from a branch equipped in the elevator car.

As you can see, it can be very difficult to independently open the elevator doors from the outside. It is better to wait for the qualified help of the master. Indeed, in this case, the doors will open correctly, without endangering the lives of people who are in the elevator car.

What not to do if you are stuck in an elevator

If you are in an elevator that stopped moving but the doors did not open, try not to aggravate the situation:

It is much safer to be in the elevator than trying to open it yourself, because improper action can result in electric shock or injury.
Do not smoke or light matches – such actions will lead to a significant decrease in oxygen and it will become very difficult to breathe. It is best to illuminate yourself with a flashlight or mobile phone.

Most importantly, don’t panic. Try to relax, calm down and connect with the elevator by pressing the corresponding button in the elevator car. Very often there is also a telephone number written in the elevator cabins, which can be called in case of an emergency.

When do you need to get out on your own

In exceptional cases, you need to get out on your own, without waiting for help. We are talking about those situations when the life and health of people who are stuck are at risk. As a rule, these are cases of smoke, fire, earthquakes, the collapse of a part of the building and other natural and man-made disasters. If the count goes on for minutes, and there is nowhere to wait for help, then you need to try to open the cab doors.

How to open an elevator in an emergency? To do this, you should take the following steps:

If the cabin is flush with the floor, then you need to try to break and squeeze out the doors with the help of improvised means. In a dangerous situation, you do not need to worry about the safety of municipal property.
It is recommended to squeeze the sashes using any durable lever. You can use one of the interior elements (most cabins today are “vandal-proof”, so in practice it is hardly applicable) or find something at home (umbrella, cane, keys).
You can try to get to the roof through the technical hatch. It is not available in all cabins, moreover, it requires good physical shape. Then it is worth trying to squeeze out the shaft doors located above.

Contact the dispatcher

Call the dispatcher as soon as possible. To do this, hold down the “Call” button and follow the instructions. In each entrance there are rules for using the elevator with the Moslift hotline phone. In the future, it will be possible to contact the dispatcher via the Internet by scanning the QR code in the elevator car. bad.

“Moslift serves about 70 thousand elevators in Moscow. They carry around 15 million people every day. “

If you have not been able to contact the dispatcher, do not worry. Try to get the attention of the residents. Start screaming loudly. You can even knock on the elevator body, but not on the doors. Remember that you are not the only person using the elevator and you will be quickly noticed.

Call button does not work

There are times when the dispatcher call button is damaged or simply does not work. Do not try to get out of the elevator yourself. Dial the emergency number from your mobile phone and explain the situation. Such messages are considered urgent, and a rescue team of the Ministry of Emergency Situations will leave for you. Call relatives, acquaintances and report the incident with the exact address. Then they will be able to contact the emergency service to report the incident.

How to contact the dispatch service

How do I contact the dispatch office of my home management organization?

You can find out the address and telephone number of the managing organization of your house on the website of the House of Moscow. In the search box, select the “Learn about home” tab and enter the address. General information about the house will appear in the window that opens. Click on the name of the managing organization and scroll down to the “Dispatching work” section.

How to contact the unified dispatch center (UDC)?

In case of accidents in the indoor water supply, heating, sewerage and power supply systems, you can contact:

to the Unified Dispatch Center:
by phone: +7 (495) 539-53-53 (round the clock);
online via the Moscow State Services mobile application. In the “Unified Dispatch Center” section, you must fill in the required fields and send an application for work. The status of the application will be displayed in the application.

The hotline numbers of Mosvodokanal, Mosgaz, MOEK, Mosenergosbyt and other organizations working in the housing and utilities sector in Moscow can be found on mos.ru.

When is it worth contacting the control room?

You can contact the dispatch service for help in case of emergencies – for example, if:

floods your apartment with water;
no hot or cold water;
there is no electricity in the house;
the sewer is clogged;
you smelled gas at the entrance.

You can also leave a request if:

electrical appliances in public places are out of order;
the door to the attic is broken open or faulty;
you smelled odors in the entrance or saw rodents or insects.

How long to wait?

You must be released within 30 minutes. According to the standards, the Moslift dispatcher will send the application to the emergency repair team within 5 minutes, the team will arrive at the site within 20 minutes, and the electrician will release you from artificial captivity in 5 minutes.

What to do if there is no phone

Troubles tend to happen at the most inopportune moment. Therefore, it may happen that your phone also fails. In this case, draw attention to yourself by shouting or knocking on the cab wall. They will help you quickly.

What if the elevator you are in crashes?

So, you are inside a falling elevator. Life has given you a problem, and you have a few seconds to survive. What to do?

Some jump up a fraction of a second before landing in order to reduce the speed of the body hitting the ground. Even with a clear mind and Olympic reaction, with such a landing, you will reduce the impact speed by literally 3-5 km / h. More likely to be a head injury from the booth ceiling or a poor landing that will multiply your injuries.

Another rescue idea is to stand on your knees bent like a skier. The legs will act as shock absorbers, which will reduce the severity of the injuries. In theory, the legs will cushion when hitting the ground, slowing down the body’s falling speed for a longer period (impact force is proportional to speed and mass, and inversely proportional to braking time and distance, so the longer the braking time, the less force). The effectiveness of this approach at high speeds remains questionable, and research shows that such a landing, on the contrary, is more traumatic for the legs and knees. The body will be parallel to the lines of action of the force, which increases the likelihood of bone fracture. The body can, roughly speaking, fold to the floor.

Considering all these factors, the best option is to lie on your back on the floor of the elevator and cover your face and head from possible debris that will fall from the ceiling when you fall. Landing in this position will distribute the force of the blow over the body; Also, the spine and long bones will be located perpendicular to the direction of impact, which will better protect against fractures. Thinner bones, like ribs, are still prone to fractures, but here you have to choose the lesser of two evils.

Unfortunately, several problems make this approach dangerous too.

1 Internal injuries: by sprawling on the floor of a falling elevator, you put your soft tissues, including the brain and other organs, at great risk – they take the full force of the impact. Considering that even minor car collisions can provoke serious injuries, you can imagine what happens when the elevator stops abruptly at a speed of 75+ km / h.

2 Tiger Trap: No matter how well you prepare for the strike, there is always the opportunity to get killed. For example, an elevator car from an impact can fly to pieces, turning the floor into the most dangerous zone, a human body on the floor can be cut up and punctured by falling debris. Betty-Lou Oliver became a Guinness World Record holder after surviving a fall from the 75th floor in an elevator in the Empire State Building in 1945. If she was lying on the floor, she would most likely die. (In her case, a coil of cable lying at the bottom of the shaft softened the landing). The shafts in some elevators are equipped with shock-absorbing bumpers designed to cushion landing in the event of a fall. But they also cannot stop the cabins in free fall.

3 Free-free fall: In a falling elevator, you, like a car, fly freely downward. In other words, you feel as if you are weightless, no force is pressing you to the floor. To lie flat on the floor, you need to find some way to press yourself down and not push yourself off the floor.

Even with all these facts in mind, lying on your back during a fall, if you can keep yourself on the floor, will be the best way to escape. If you think sensibly, you are trying to survive, it is unlikely that you will be able to avoid injury in such an accident. So falling while lying down is the most beneficial.

Of course, the likelihood of applying this knowledge in practice is negligible, but if suddenly it does happen, you will be able to remember how to group.

Is it possible to survive in a falling elevator

Yes, in many cases there is a chance that you will survive even if the cable breaks. For the safety of passengers, several technologies are provided, including a double cable and a spring in the shaft.

An elevator car is usually attached not to one, but to two or more cables. Moreover, each of them is able to withstand the weight of the cabin with passengers. If one of the cables breaks, the elevator will tilt and stop moving, but will not fall. Passengers will have the opportunity to call emergency services and wait for the crew in the tilted cockpit.

The spring (or several springs) is usually located at the bottom of the shaft. It is designed to cushion the impact in the event of a fall.

Of course, these springs will slightly reduce the force of the impact, but theoretically they can save lives.

But the main technology that protects passengers from death is the elevator’s automatic braking system. If the cabin starts to fall, a mechanism is triggered, which more or less smoothly stops it in the mine. Even if it does not fully fire and stop the cab, it can significantly reduce the speed of the fall and the force of the subsequent impact.

The invention of such a catcher belongs to Elisha Otis, who came up with the idea of attaching a spring attached to the cable to the roof, which, without tension (when the cable broke), bent and turned into a spacer that stopped the fall of the elevator. Now this invention is significantly complicated, but the essence remains the same – when the cable breaks, a block appears that does not allow the cabin to move down the shaft.

The height from which the elevator falls plays a huge role in the chances of survival. So, when you fall from the 3rd floor, even without taking into account the spring, there is every chance of getting by with “just” fractures of the legs. But if the elevator falls from the fifth floor and higher, then the risk of dying increases dramatically.

How to keep a falling elevator alive

So, here are some simple tips to help you survive an emergency:

if the elevator tilted (one of the cables broke off) – do not jump, do not stomp, and generally try to maintain a static position of the body. If you need to move to call the brigade, do it as smoothly as possible;
if the elevator falls from a small height (3rd-6th floor), bend your knees by 40 degrees. This will slightly reduce the impact that will fall on vital organs. It won’t work if you fall from a great height, but if you fall from the 4th or 5th floor, the effect may be noticeable. Agree, it is better to break both legs than to die;
if the time of the fall allows, then some advise this technique – lie on your back and cover your face with your hands to protect yourself from fragments. Of course, there are risks here. First, the chance of getting a serious head injury is significantly increased. Secondly, on impact, the cabin floor can turn into a pile of sharp debris that can damage vital organs. However, other things being equal, it is believed that this is the position of the body will provide you with the best chance of survival. True, the chances of being an incapacitated citizen are also incredibly increasing.

Do I need to jump at the moment of collision

There is a bike that it is enough just to jump at the moment the elevator collides with the bottom of the shaft – and that’s it, there will be no impact. Or it will be, but strongly softened. Unfortunately, this is a myth. Even if we assume that you were able to accurately calculate the time before the impact in a closed cabin (which is extremely unlikely, given that the elevator rarely falls for more than 4-5 seconds), then we still have to compete with conventional physics.

A person in an elevator falls at a speed of about 35 m / s already in the fifth second after the cable breaks. The jump speed of the Olympic champion is about 2.5 m / s. However, you are unlikely to be an Olympic champion. And let’s not forget that your body is not pressing with all its weight on the floor – after all, you are falling not only relative to the shaft, but also relative to the cabin. Therefore, you will not be able to push off with all your strength and jump at a speed of 2.5 m / s – the jump speed will be cut by about a third. But even if a miracle happens, and you can break the world record in an emergency, the acceleration will still not be enough to significantly soften the impact – you will still continue to fall at a speed of more than 30 m / s.

Survivor stories

In 2016 in China, in the city of Shenzhen, a man miraculously survived after falling from the 30th floor. For what reason the elevator fell, it is not known, but the Chinese miraculously survived. An important role in his survival was played by the fact that immediately after the fall, the man promptly called an ambulance – otherwise he could have died from his injuries.

And in 2018, a Russian became a victim of the fall of the elevator. In a Moscow forty-story residential complex, a man flew 20 floors in a broken elevator and survived. He was saved by the automatic braking of the elevator – otherwise his “free flight” would have lasted twice as long, and a successful outcome would have been much less likely.

In 2012, in St. Petersburg, two passengers of a falling elevator (height not specified) escaped with craniocerebral injuries and fractures, but survived. They were rescued by an automatic braking system that worked on time.

An elevator catcher, triggered on time, is able to save life

Your survival in a falling elevator depends little on you. At this fateful moment, everything is decided by the quality of the automation, the reliability of the security systems and the height at which the cables broke.

And if there is a fire?

Never try to get out of a suddenly stopped elevator yourself. The exception to this rule is fire. It is the fire that often provokes a short circuit and stopping the elevator anywhere. Call your neighbors for help, again attracting their attention with noise and shouts. Try using an umbrella, keys, or other objects to push the automatic elevator doors open and get out.

If you cannot get out on your own, call the rescuers by phone: 01 or 101. Before the arrival of help, cover your nose and mouth with a sleeve of clothing or a handkerchief soaked in water, milk or even urine. If the fire started in another area of the house, you shouldn’t use the elevator anyway.

Moslift is considering the possibility of installing video monitors in elevator cabins. This could help relieve the stress of stuck passengers. In this case, people will not only hear the dispatcher, but also see him while he is talking on the phone, accepting and transmitting requests, and determining the timing of the arrival of emergency teams.

Elevator fraud

Sometimes people find themselves locked in an elevator not because of a safety violation or as a result of a breakdown, but because of the illegal actions of criminal elements. It happens like this:

A man enters the elevator and goes up to his floor.
The intruder counts the time so that when the car stops, the car is between the floors, and de-energizes the elevator.
The offender opens the elevator doors so that there is a gap, introduces himself as an elevator operator and asks for a phone to call for help, since his machine has sat down.
The fraudster is hiding with the victim’s phone.

Sources used and useful links on the topic: https://FB.ru/article/438775/kak-otkryit-lift-samostoyatelno-sposobyi-otkryitiya-dverey-lifta-snaruji-i-iznutri https://www.m24.ru / articles / Moslift / 13042017/136756 http://prolift.ru/stati/kuda-zvonit-esli-zastryal-v-lifte.html http://vegetableshome.ru/%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0% BA-% D0% BE% D1% 82% D0% BA% D1% 80% D1% 8B% D1% 82% D1% 8C-% D0% B4% D0% B2% D0% B5% D1% 80% D0% B8-% D0% BB% D0% B8% D1% 84% D1% 82% D0% B0-% D1% 81% D0% BD% D0% B0% D1% 80% D1% 83% D0% B6% D0% B8 / https://www.mos.ru/otvet-dom-i-dvor/kak-svyazatsya-s-dispetcherskoy-sluzhboy/ http://hawkish.ru/%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6 % D0% BD% D0% BE-% D0% BB% D0% B8-% D0% B2% D1% 8B% D0% B6% D0% B8% D1% 82% D1% 8C-% D0% B2-% D0 % BF% D0% B0% D0% B4% D0% B0% D1% 8E% D1% 89% D0% B5% D0% BC-% D0% BB% D0% B8% D1% 84% D1% 82% D0% B5 / https://aqua-rmnt.com/interesnoe/mozhno-li-vyzhit-v-padayushchem-lifte.html

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