For all of you who were buying gas masks last month...
Just saw a CNN report about www.executivechute.com. They have made
sport parachutes for years and have now come out with a new, smaller
fast-opening chute designed for emergency escape from skyscrapers of 20
or more floors.
Here is how they tell the story on their web site:
Let's imagine that you are on the 60th floor at work. There is
a commotion in the hallway that gains your attention. You go to
investigate. Opening your office door you see smoke is starting to
fill the office area. At that moment the fire alarms start blaring.
Your first thought..."Get Out!" Then you hear people yelling and
rushing around. You are now on the move for the stairs. As you round
the corner you find there is small crowd around the doorway leading
out. Someone pushes the door open, you feel the heat and choking
smoke blasts through the group.
Now what do you do?! How do you get out now?
Obviously, you should wait for rescue by emergency crews. BUT, in the
event they can not get to you in time, you now have one last chance
to make it out alive.
We talked about this idea after the attacks and the consensus was that
it was not very practical. Nevertheless this company feels they have a
market and have just come out with the $800 product this week. It is
compact, about 6 inches wide and 2 feet long when packed. The chute
cannot be steered and would be quite hazardous but would certainly be
preferable to jumping out the window without one.
Hal
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat May 11 2002 - 17:44:16 MDT