Are theatre staff told what to do in case of emergency?
Are theatre staff told what to do in case of emergency?
#1Are theatre staff told what to do in case of emergency?
Posted: 7/8/07 at 9:01pm
The title of this thread is probably a little mean sounding, but it's not intended that way. I will explain:
At today's performance of A Chorus Line, someone in the audience passed out . At first, the people around her couldn't even get the attention of an usher. They were yelling and they did get up, but no one caught on at first. When they did manage to get an usher's attention, and the staff was alerted as to what happened, the house lights did not come on. They were fumbling about in the dark until half of the rear orchestra section (or so it seemed), turned around and yelled for someone to turn on the lights. The show was stopped, they did turn on the lights, and EMS was called (the person was able to walk out of the theatre, but was obviously taken in for medical attention anyway). It was a scary scene, but it all made me wonder. Are theatre staff trained how to properly handle an emergency? I know it's a rare occurance, but I think that it could've been handled a little better.
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
#2re: Are theatre staff told what to do in case of emergency?
Posted: 7/8/07 at 9:10pm
Wow... weather must have really done a number on people today--- someone passed out near the end of "Inherit the Wind" today as well !!!
I heard that they were attended to rather quickly.
retroG
Chorus Member Joined: 7/4/07
#2re: Are theatre staff told what to do in case of emergency?
Posted: 7/8/07 at 11:09pm
Actually, this is not a rare occurance for those of us who've worked front of the house for many years. The House Manager is fully trained in emergencies and works cohesively w/nyc police dept., EMS, and Theater Security. Reports are taken, etc. The sad thing is that sometimes people have collapsed at the theater, like anywhere else (suddenly or unexpectedly), and everything is done by mgmt. expediently, for anyone in distress, immediately.
The multitude of problems usually occur when the weather is really hot, people eat bad food before the show, sometimes they get vertigo from the height of the balcony, etc. As soon as staff is alerted to such a problem, it is "handled".
