Find the second way out
In a fire, crowds run for the door they came in by. In any crowded place, find one other exit and check it is clear. It takes seconds.
Built from people's habits and experiences of looking for exits in clubs, cinemas, restaurants and hotels — including people trained in fire safety and people for whom the habit became anxiety — checked against a US government fire investigation, US fire-safety guidance, and UK fire and police advice.
You came in through the front door, so if something goes wrong, that is the door your feet will want. The people around you came in that way too.
When you walk into a crowded place, find one exit that is not the door you came in by, and check that nothing is blocking it.
Why the door you came in by is the trap
Many people make the same point: in a fire or a panic, a crowd heads for the way it came in, and the door jams. Using a different exit avoids the jam, and many people say to find one that is not the way you came in, because it is less likely to be blocked.
The US government investigated a nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003 in which 100 people died. It found that about two-thirds of the people inside tried to leave through the main entrance, and many could not. A crush formed at that entrance within ninety seconds, and smoke reached the doorway in a little more than a minute. The building had other exits: doors by the stage, doors beside the bar, and a kitchen exit. Some people say fires like that one are why people start looking for exits, and some people say it was the footage of it. One person says the footage shows how fast things go wrong; another says not to watch it, because it is described as deeply upsetting to watch.
This is not a judgement on the people who were there. One person points out, answering a debate about exactly that, that people do not think clearly in a fire. That is the reason to decide before anything happens. Some people say that getting out depends on acting rather than freezing, and that going over the route in your head beforehand is what makes acting possible. The choice you made on the way in is the one you still have when you cannot think.
The look, on the way in
It takes seconds, and one person says a thirty-second check is plenty, with no need to memorise every door. Here is what the people who do it look for:
- An exit sign that is not above the door you came in by. One person says we stop seeing exit signs because they are everywhere and often over doors that are rarely used; that is what makes them worth noticing.
- What stands between you and it: chairs, a crowd, a locked-looking door.
- In a restaurant or bar, the way out through the kitchen or the back. Some people say these often lead straight outside and are faster than the front; one person adds that shopping centres have service corridors behind the shops that lead outside. One person warns that heading into a back room is a bad idea during a robbery.
- In a hotel, the two exits nearest your room. The US Fire Administration says to count the doors between your room and each exit, so you can find them in the dark.
A few habits from individual people: look for the floor plan by the door and sit near an exit; carry a small keychain torch for dark exits; wear shoes with grip; and notice where the fire extinguishers are, as a sign of how seriously the place takes safety.
The NFPA, the US fire-protection association, says it plainly in the advice one US city fire department publishes: some exits may be in front of you and some behind you, and the closest one may not be the main exit. The US agency CISA’s card for attacks says the same thing from a different direction: take note of the two nearest exits in any place you visit.
Some people say some people already do this without thinking, because of training as firefighters or security staff, because of anxiety, or out of habit, and that it becomes second nature. One person in that line of work says they count the doors to the stairs even on a date. Another says it is a necessary skill for people whose jobs take them into dangerous buildings, such as firefighters, and that for everyone else a general awareness is enough. Some people say others have called them odd for it. One person says being sober enough to notice matters, and another that warnings repeated by parents stay with a person even when young or drunk. And if you are with someone, tell them where the exit is. One person does exactly that; how to say it without alarming them is not covered here.
In the moment
Warnings from individual people: do not stop to film, just go; do not simply follow the crowd, because it may be running into the jam or towards the danger; and once you are out of a fire, go where the staff or the fire service are counting people, because firefighters may go back in to look for someone who is already safe. One person adds that a meeting point is for a fire, not for an attack.
Many people share a trick for getting through a packed crowd: say loudly that you are about to be sick, and people jump out of your way. It works by making people believe something that is not true, so this page leaves it as theirs rather than passing it on. One person’s other way is to turn sideways and lead with one arm held straight ahead, rather than shouting. How to protect yourself in a crowd crush is not covered here.
If looking for exits already frightens you
This page is written for people who never look. If you are the other kind, who checks every room and cannot stop, this habit may be part of the problem rather than the answer, and one person says so directly: people who lean towards anxiety, or who find open or crowded places frightening, may find this practice harmful. Some people add that if the checking causes you distress or feels like something you have to do, it may be a sign of an anxiety disorder that treatment can help with. The disagreement below is the argument between people on both sides of that line.
Who else this is not for
If your real question is how to stay safe in a mosh pit, this is a different subject. One warning is worth carrying anyway: at a heavy show, if a large open space suddenly appears in the middle of the crowd, it may be two sides about to run at each other, and you should not walk into it.
The community disagrees on this one
People who have this habit disagree about what it costs them. What decides it, they say, is your own baseline mental health, and whether you can do the check and then put it out of your mind.
Let it go if it feeds your fear
Constant scanning for exits and threats can turn into anxiety and paranoia and make life smaller. One person argues that the fear is a certain cost paid against a danger that is very unlikely, and another that the chance of ever needing the exit is too low to be worth the effort. Some people call the constant version a sign of anxiety or trauma, and some suggest therapy or medication. If it causes you distress, or feels like something you have to do, that is worth raising with a doctor.
Keep a quick check, done lightly
A glance on the way in is cheap and can save your life. Done casually, it does not mean living in fear. Some people say knowing where the exit is actually lets them relax. One person says a thirty-second check is enough, with no need to memorise every door.
How to tell healthy caution from an anxiety problem without a diagnosis is not covered here.
Common questions
What if the exit is locked, chained or blocked?
Then it is not an exit, and that is the point of checking. Some people say emergency exits are sometimes chained, locked or blocked by staff or management, so look at yours before you rely on it; one person says owners lock side doors to stop people leaving without paying, and another that staff block them for security. The fire-safety advice for patrons from the NFPA, the US fire-protection association, as a US city fire department publishes it: if there are not at least two clearly marked exits, or the exit paths are blocked, tell the management, and leave if it is not put right at once; then call the local fire marshal. In the UK, the London Fire Brigade treats locked or blocked fire exits as a serious risk to life: speak to the person responsible for the building first, and if they will not act, report it to the fire service, which outside London means your local fire and rescue service. One person describes an exhibition closed by a fire marshal for too few exits after they noticed the problem; another says local inspectors can be slow and it may take going to the county or state. Three more things about doors. One person warns against big crowded rooms whose exit doors open inward, because a crowd pushing forward cannot pull them open. In the US, Minnesota’s state fire marshal, for example, says all exit doors from assembly buildings must swing outward, and any latch must release with a push bar. One person warns that some emergency exits have timers. Some exit doors are indeed allowed to hold shut for a few seconds after you push: New York City’s building code allows up to 15 seconds, or 30 where approved, with a sign that says to push until an alarm sounds, and the delay switches off when the sprinklers or the fire alarm go off. So keep pushing. And one person points out that signs saying an alarm will sound teach people to avoid that door; in a real emergency, the alarm is what it is for. If there truly is only one way out, one answer here is that commercial buildings are required to have more than one. Minnesota’s code, for example, requires two exits once 50 to 500 people can be inside, so a small shop may have only one. There, the door you came in by is your exit, and knowing that is still worth something.
What about smoke, when I cannot see?
Smoke can fill a room so fast that you cannot see where the fire is or where the doors are, one person says. At the Rhode Island fire, smoke reached the main doorway in a little more than a minute, according to the US government investigation. That is why the counting habits exist. The US Fire Administration says that in a hotel you should find the two closest exits from your room and count the doors between your room and each one, so you can get out in the dark. One person here counts door frames or seat backs, so that they can feel their way to an exit rather than needing to see it, and another says hotels now put exit signs low near the floor, where they show below the smoke. US government fire guidance adds the other half: drop down and crawl low, under the smoke, to your exit. How to move through a smoke-filled room beyond that is not covered here.
Isn’t this really about shootings, and only in America?
People argue about that, and the answer that holds everywhere is fire. Fires happen in every country, one person points out, and some people add that a fire can block the main route, which is exactly when the second exit matters. One person adds floods, earthquakes and crowd crushes. This page does not carry the argument about which country has more violence. If the danger is a person with a weapon, the official advice in both the US and the UK starts with getting away if there is a safe route: the US agency CISA’s card says Run, Hide, Fight, and to take note of the two nearest exits in any place you visit; UK counter-terrorism police say Run, Hide, Tell, and to call 999 when it is safe. Either way, knowing your second way out before anything happens is what makes running possible.
Questions this step helps with
Same situation, another step
- Check the plate before you open the doorStaying safe
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