Over the past few decades, we have seen numerous people losing their lives in stampedes and other man-made crowd related disasters. Most of the accidents and fatalities have been caused due to poor crowd control and management. In today's modern world, time is a precious thing that people don't have and people almost flock around everywhere and that is the reason why crowd management becomes very important. During rush hours, people literally start travelling in overcrowded buses, trains, metros and other public transportation, and everyone is in a hurry to board in one of these public transports first, which make things go worse at times. High-rise buildings and large industrial complexes also need to have crowd controlling system integrated with their emergency evacuation plan because accidents might take place anytime and anywhere without any prior notice. As, we have always learnt from our childhood that, "Prevention is better than cure". Having a well-planned emergency plan with crowd management technology integrated with it is very important to prevent any kind of accidents from taking place.
Not only during rush hours, crowd management technology is a necessity nowadays because it has proved to be extremely helpful in many situations like a terror attack, bio-hazard leak situation and in recent times after the coronavirus outbreak this technology has gained much more importance because life must go on and events, functions must take place but maintaining social distancing. Organizers need to be extra careful before organizing any such events because one mistake can become another disaster for mankind if precautions are not taken properly.
But what exactly makes crowd management so important in our daily lives: -
It uses modern technologies like the Global Positioning System (GPS), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), Fire Detection System, Smoke Detector, Voice Alarm, Light Alarms, and customized safety software that can be installed in our smartphones, which will guide us during an emergency. All the devices mentioned above are key players during an emergency and they are the ones that help the first responders locate trapped and missing people and help them navigate through to a safe position.
Some of the technologies can detect up to 700 people per second, sending the active status of everyone present in the building to the first responders and countering human activities. Early fire detectors detect fire at its early development so that the valuable assets present in the building can be shifted to a safe place because once it is destroyed, it cannot be retrieved back. Hence, preserving the paper assets is very important from the company point of view.
Hiring safety professionals is very important as they will do a safety gap analysis, identify the potential risks and threats, develop an emergency evacuation plan, review preventive measures, also consider a specialized plan for impaired and persons, visitors etc. The plan will involve how people need to be treated during the emergency and what will be the role of building managers.
The best crowd management technology from Afantage isn't a requirement anymore, it is a necessity of every premise and should be promoted by the government to avoid any unprecedented situation from occurring.