Two stories illustrate the dangers of putting your trust in the “authorities.”
- Crime lab analysts in the Houston Police Department have been faking analysis results on suspected drugs submitted to the lab for testing. The process of creating entirely fake analyses, called drylabbing, is pretty much universally condemned. However, the analysts involved received no more than a four-day suspension. One is still working in the crime lab.
- Wired Magazine reports that civil engineers have been studying the World Trade Center attack of 11 September 2001 and came up with startling conclusions (PDF) about how the authorities handled emergency calls from people in the towers. It seems that 911 dispatchers were telling people to stay where they were and not to evacuate. The report also said that use of the elevators during the emergency may have allowed as many as 2,500 people to escape alive. The people in the buildings had better access to information on what was happening and were able to make an informed decision to evacuate. Anyone in the towers who actually listened to the authorities that day and stayed put almost certainly perished.
The morals here are: The person with the badge is no better than you are and may even be worse, and you need to think for yourself and be prepared to make decisions and take action in an emergency; you cannot rely on “emergency services.”
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Mark J
Jun 09, 2005
Also, what’s best for the group might not always be what is best for the individual. Consider: calmly make your way to the exit. If you’re one of the last people in line, you might die in the burning building, where a mad dash might increase your chances of survival, but endanger others. I’m reminded of the Seinfeld episode where George sees smoke and pushes small children and the elderly out of his way getting to the door.
Rob Hyndman
Jun 09, 2005
Here’s another one:
http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=304f9fc6-4397-414b-9948-9cf07446ec71
A firefighter
Jun 10, 2005
“Also, what’s best for the group might not always be what is best for the individual.” — Mark J is exactly right. In this case the “authorities” were doing what they’d been trained to do, and in prior high-rise emergencies avoiding a mass panic and managing people effectively worked best. In the fire service we call this “shelter in place,” sending people to a safer spot until we can get to them. Dispatchers work far from the scene of the emergency, using procedures designed mainly by firefighters, cops, and — guess who — lawyers. On Sept 11 those instructions were wrong.
The WTC was a very unprecedented emergency. Comparisons to high-rise fires or aircraft crashes are baseless. Telling people to stay in place probably cost lives. That many people decided to get out despite instructions was obviously best, but this does not equate to something to blame or distrust “authorities” for. If “authorities” even vaguely expected the towers to collapse, instructions would have been different.
I’m a professional firefighter/EMT, trained in urban rescue, working in a major metro area. In no way do I mean to diminish the scale or impact of 9/11. But consider if people in general applied the sense used in getting out of the WTC to other events in life, say always using child safety seats in cars, not smoking in bed, or working to be healthy. Would that save lives?
As one of those with a badge, occasionally called both “hero” and “authority,” I can say this: As the post above states, we are absolutely no better than you are (despite what the media portrays). Many times you can rely on us, but not always — whether it’s collapsing towers, people tying up 9-1-1 with their plumbing problems, or too many clueless drivers between the fire station and your crisis. But if you’re not going to rely on authorities in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack, do it right and don’t rely on us while you’re shooting that yellow traffic light or letting a child ride outside a proper car seat. Rely on yourself, with intelligence and clear thinking, ALL the time.
Jan 02, 2006
911 dispatcher sued for slow police response - Homeland Security or Homeland Stupidity