Structural collapse, fires, andmass shootingscome to mind.
Lets run a few numbers.
Compare that to, say, the number of casualties resulting from mass shootings.
Hero Images/Getty Images
Together, those episodes killed 138 people (excluding the shooters) and injured 591 others.
Skip options like flip-flops, which Morrish-Smith notes dont offer much traction and can become a tripping hazard.
Similarly, giant heels can make it harder to run or leave you more vulnerable to a twisted ankle.
You might want to save those kinds of options for less crowded events.
Or you could wear them anyway, knowing that chances are nothings going to happen.
Calculated risks, people!
Dehydrationandfaintingare very common at cramped and crowded events, Locke explains.
The prolonged standing and the heat generated from a crowd can impair someone’s normally resilient physiology.
For starters, alcohol has amild diuretic effect, meaning it can make you pee more.
This can contribute to dehydration if youre not on top of your water intake.
Keeping your drink tally low also removes the risk factor of drunkenness.
As we mentioned above, the odds of something calamitous happening at a public event are low.
Your phone cant help you if its dead, though.
(Be reasonably aware of people around you so you dont get pickpocketed.)
A fully charged phone is great unless…you cant find it.
Or you drop it on the ground and the screen shatters.
Or the venue youre in is a dead zone.
The list goes on.
Knowing the way you came in isnt enough.
If panic ensues, many people will instinctively give a shot to get out the way they entered.
Morrish-Smith suggests scoping out the exits upon arriving, or even checking them out beforehand.
But its smart to figure out where to bolt if something happens.
Otherwise, you could waste precious seconds trying to find an exit in a crisis.
Avoid going to the center of the group.
Its best to stay on the perimeter, Morrish-Smith says.
Whenever the crowd stops moving, head toward the edge diagonally rather than trying to go straight.
Its easier to move through those gaps than to attempt to squeeze past people in front of you.
If theres a fire (or even a hint of one), move toward an exit ASAP.
Morrish-Smith suggests staying close to a wall and following that to the exit if you’re able to.
But that’s easier said than done.
The stress response is adaptive, primal, and deeply ingrained, Locke explains.
Sometimes this survival instinct is good, but sometimes its disproportionate to the actual immediate threat.
This is where you see unnecessary chaos, Locke says.
People pushing and clawing in crowds, people getting stepped on or trampled.
It can also become easier with practice.
Its a mental practice of sorts.
So, if you really want to be prepared, dont just read these tips and forget about them.
Brush up on them again before you go to crowded events so theyre fresh in your mind.
