Why Install Panic Bars
Panic bars are often seen in schools, hospitals, shopping malls, and office buildings. This is a safety door that is installed so that large amounts of people can effectively escape when necessary. It is an exit door that is pressed from the inside to open. Panic bars are often referred to as crash bars. If there is an emergency situation, this type of door will save lives. In years past, they have been known to do this very think, save lives. Before the panic bar was invented, there was unfortunate loss of life do to people being trapped with no way out. There is a horizontal spring-loaded bar across the front of the door. When the bar is pressed, it unlatches the lock. This will make it easy for people to move out the door more swiftly without anyone being trampled on. This appeared to be part of the problem during previous tragedies.
If you think of the amount of people that visit schools, malls, hospitals, movie theaters and other place where large amounts of people are found, it makes sense that they are installed in larger buildings. It’s important that people see a clear exist that they can easily get in and out of so that they know that they have a way out if something should happen. The key to getting people out safely is to make sure they don’t begin to panic. Once people start to panic, they begin to create a commotion, which can result in loss of life. If you have a lot of people trying to exit a building at once without an easy way for them to exit the building, panic will ensue. The panic bar is design to only open from the inside. This means that no one will be able to gain access from outside. When there is a tragedy, family and friends may attempt to run back inside to get their loved ones out. This could create a worse situation and prevent people from exiting the building. That is why the door only opens from one direction.
If panic bars were in place back in the 1800’s, 180 children who were trapped and died, would have all made it out safely. Also, if there were safety bars during the early 1900’s, the Chicago fire that killed 600 people in a theater wouldn’t have happened. It is due to these types of incidents and others that someone decided that created a safe exit door would be in everyone’s best interest and help prevent anymore loss of life.