How to stop a stadium stampede
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A popular sporting event like the Super Bowl is an attractive target to terrorists, and not just the fodder of Hollywood movies like "Black Sunday" or "The Sum of All Fears." Pre 9/11 stadiums are designed to get people in efficiently, but not always to get them out. What can security planners do to prepare for the aftermath of an attack in a stadium? (Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
The Sport Evac program trains teams for those "what if" scenarios, by creating virtual 3D stadiums drawn from actual blueprints and packing them with up to 70,000 animated human avatars designed to respond to threats as unpredictably as their human counterparts. (Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
If an event is detected -- here it's a briefcase bomb near the pressbox -- how would it be dealt with? You'll never see the advanced technology see on game day, but having it at work behind the scenes makes watching the big game safer. (Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
To simulate all scenarios successfully, from the most likely to the improbable, Sport Evac tracks first responders, police cars, fire trucks, fans' cars, stadium employees and security. (Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
The virtual stadium allows them to simulate how fans will respond in those first few critical minutes after an attack. Stadium and team security can use the virtual stadium to practice moving players and fans to safety and to run exercises with local first responders. (Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
Sport Evac critically extends beyond the stadium itself and encompasses the parking lot as well. Anyone who has ever tailgated knows that the jam-packed parking lot and roads leading out could be a problem in an emergency. (Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
(Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
(Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
The Sport Evac system can model more than 70,000 virtual people to determine how to safely evacuate a public facility in case of an emergecy. (Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)
(Luca Giardino / National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security)