USA Today Story- featuring our advisory board member Stacey Hall
Leagues, clubs deal with perception of rise in fan violence
By Robert Klemko, USA TODAY 8/30/2011
Contributing: Mike Dodd in Chicago, Michael McCarthy and Tom Pedulla in East Rutherford, N.J., Bob Nightengale in Baltimore, Steve Wieberg in Lawson, Mo.
A Happy Ending for a Patron Leader
Mon Aug 29 10:24pm EDT
Ballpark hero: Nationals Park beer vendor saves choking child
A season filled with unspeakable tragedy and unfortunate accidents both on and off the field finally has a potentially serious story with a very happy ending.
Emmanuel Marlow, a 49-year-old Washington, D.C., native who works as a vendor at Nationals Park and other stadiums in the district, was making his normal rounds Thursday afternoon shortly after the start of a Washington Nationals game when he noticed a commotion in one of his sections.
A young boy had begun choking on his food and those around him were panicking.
According to a witness who first reported the heroic act to Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post, when Marlow came upon the scene and saw that no one else had taken charge, he immediately abandoned his vending duties and began performing the Heimlich maneuver.
[Related: NFL star Jeremy Shockey saves teammate's life]
After two unsuccessful thrusts, Marlow remained calm and cool, and ensured the child’s mother he would be all right. On his third attempt, Marlow dislodged a piece of chicken from the child’s throat.
“I guess they never had experienced a first-aid situation,” said Marlow, who had once worked a game at FedEx Field when a patron had a mild stroke. “[The boy] was actually going to a new color. I knew I needed to jump in and do it. There was no time for hesitation. It had to be done right then and there.”
After a quick examination at the stadium, the boy was deemed to be OK. His grateful mother went up to Marlow and spent 10 minutes hugging him, crying and thanking him for saving her son’s life.
And then, just like that, Marlow went back to work.
“I was just glad I was there and knew what to do and did it; that’s the best thing that happened,” Marlow told [Steinberg]. “His mother’s not grieving over a lost child. That’s the most important thing.”
It’s concerning to hear how long the situation played out before someone — anyone — took charge to help the young child. And it’s very scary to consider what the outcome could have been if Marlow had not come along. I would strongly encourage anyone who has not been trained in performing the Heimlich, CPR and other life-saving procedures to consider taking the small amount of time it requires to either become certified, or simply become familiar enough to be comfortable taking action in a similar emergency.
That’s what Marlow did; he once took a free CPR class at a local college, Steinberg writes, because he thought it might come in handy some day. And it might not surprise you to learn that Marlow’s “day” job begins at 3 a.m. and involves caring for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Marlow says it’s just in his nature to help people.
You just never know when a similar situation will play out around you, or even involving someone you love. It’s always better to be safe and prepared than to be sorry.
Right now, we’re all very thankful Emmanuel Marlow took the time and was prepared to do what was right. That is what makes a hero.
Mexican Shootout
A First Division Mexican soccer match was suspended on August 20th after gunmen opened fire on police outside the stadium in the city of Torreon. One officer was injured outside the stadium, and even though there was panic in the stadium, no other injuries were reported.
Sports Illustrated Article
There was a great article in August 29, 2011 issue of Sports Illustrated focused on the assault outside Dodgers Stadium this year. The article highlighted the various problems the Dodgers faced as well as some of the solutions they had undertaken. The Dodgers had 457 security personnel opening day including 195 uniformed LAPD officers. This season opening day they has one security employee for every 122 fans. According to the article arrests were down opening day from 132 last year to 72 this year. One problem highlighted by the article was that it took more than ten minutes for security to arrive in the parking lot after the attack. The next home stand was a different story with the help of Kroll the Dodgers brought in behavior detection officers trained to seek out belligerent fans, added improved lighting in the parking lots, and have announced plans to implement computer mapping technology used in crime prevention.
More violence in San Frncisco
The latest sport violence scene unleashed itself Saturday at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, when the 49ers hosted the Oakland Raiders. Fights broke out in the stands. Two separate shooting incidents injured two separate people in the parking lot. Another man was savagely beaten in an upper-level bathroom inside the stadium.
For more information visit the following articles/sites:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/22/sports/la-sp-0823-nfl-report-20110823
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/15469645/san-francisco-to-ban-tailgating-after-game-starts/rss
More deaths at a music festival
Five killed as storm wreaks havoc at Belgian music festival
MARK CARLSON
HASSELT, BELGIUM— The Associated Press
Last updated Friday, Aug. 19, 2011 4:30PM EDT
The Britrock band Skunk Anansie had the crowd hopping and gyrating when a sudden, fierce storm began pelting the main stage — and the thousands watching them — with rain and hail.
The storm shredded the annual Pukkelpop outdoor rock festival Thursday evening, blowing down huge canvas tents, uprooting trees and flinging multistory metal scaffolding towers and racks of concert lights across the grounds.
Organizers said five people were killed and 140 injured, 10 of them seriously.
Skin, the band’s lead singer, described the chaos on the band’s Facebook page, saying “a burning hot sunny day turned into a mini-hurricane.”
“(A) tower fell onto our truck, we had to run for our lives mid-set as hail hit the stage and the wind began to tear it to pieces,” she wrote. “This was the scariest moment I have ever seen or felt in my 20 years of being an artist.”
Toon van Wemmel, 26, a graphic designer from nearby Leuven, said “the hailstones came down so hard they caused bruises.” He and his partner ran away from the main stage, turned around and saw trees crashing down where they had stood less than a minute earlier.
Officials said the dead were all Belgians, ranging in age from 15 to 59. They were not immediately identified.
Officials canceled the last two days of the three-day Pukkelpop festival Friday and blamed unprecedented weather conditions in the town 80 kilometres east of Brussels.
Hilde Claes, the mayor of Hasselt, spoke of a “nightmare” and said the town had never seen a storm like the one Thursday.
“I have seen many tropical storms, but this was unprecedented,” said Chokri Mahassine, organizer of the annual festival that began in 1985.
The storm lasted barely five minutes. As the sky darkened, some of the 60,000-strong festival crowd ran for shelter from the rain and hail into the tents of caterers and festival sponsors.
But Mr. Claes said three huge tents buckled under the force of the wind and the weight of the hail, sending hundreds back outdoors. As tent poles buckled, canvas roofs shredded, flapping in tatters in the wind. Video showed panicked concertgoers crawling out from under the downed tents and running through fields of mud to safety.
“We were dancing away and it (the shelter) caved in in the middle and people were screaming and running away,” one sodden young woman told Associated Press Television News.
Dr. Pascal Vranckx of Jessa Hospital in Hasselt said many of the injured were hit on the head by flying or falling debris. The seriously wounded were taken to hospitals while others were treated at a local sports center.
“There are still three patients in critical condition, fighting for their lives,” Dr. Vranckx told reporters.
The storm sent thousands of mud-splattered youngsters, many shoeless, looking for train and bus transport home. Others stayed on the campground overnight, hoping the festival would resume Friday. Organizers deployed extra trains and buses to ferry the concertgoers home.
Mr. Claes and Mr. Mahassine said they received no advance warning of the storm that struck about 6 p.m. — a claim disputed by the Belgian weather office and VRT, the country’s Dutch-language public broadcaster.
VRT weather woman Sabine Hagedoren said alerts were issued for “intense rain and storm showers with a chance of hail and fierce wind gusts.” In an email to The Associated Press, she said an “orange” weather alert was issued — the second most serious.
“Unfortunately we cannot predict in which region — let alone in which town or city — the most serious thunderstorms will occur. But, definitely, an alert was issued for severe thunderstorms,” she wrote.
Belgian weather records show similarly powerful storms have struck eastern Belgium every year since 2008.
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme offered condolences to the families of the victims and said authorities would continue to help the injured.
The festival featured internationally known acts, including Foo Fighters, Eminem and The Offspring.
“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the tragic events at Pukkelpop,” tweeted the Foo Fighters, whose Thursday night show was canceled after the storm hit.
“This is not how it should be. Oof,” tweeted the Fleet Foxes, who had also been scheduled to play Thursday night. The band also used Twitter to assure family and fans that they were safe.
Damien Poinen, an 18-year old Belgian, was one of the many who camped overnight.
“On the one side (canceling the festival) was the right thing to do. On the other side, some still wanted to party,” he said. “Considering the people who died here yesterday, I was not going to stay anyway.”
This was the second deadly incident at an outdoor festival in a week. On Saturday, parts of a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, killing six people and injuring dozens, when winds of up to 112 kilometres per hour hit.
Another stage tragedy
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The wind gust that toppled a stage at the Indiana State Fair Saturday night, killing five and injuring dozens of fans waiting for the country band Sugarland to perform, was a “fluke” that no one could have anticipated, the governor and others said Sunday.
The wind was far stronger than that in other areas of the fairgrounds, said Dan McCarthy, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Indiana. He estimated the gust at 60 to 70 mph.
Gov. Mitch Daniels said precautions were taken before the storm, but no one could have foreseen such a strong gust focused in one place. Some witnesses have said that while a storm was expected, rain hadn’t begun to fall when the wind sent the stage rigging falling into the crowd of terrified fans.
“This is the finest event of its kind in America, this is the finest one we’ve ever had, and this desperately sad, as far as I can tell fluke event doesn’t change that,” Daniels said.
Four people were killed when the metal scaffolding that holds lights and other stage equipment fell, and a fifth died overnight at a hospital, Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten said.
…..
Fair director Cindy Hoye said it was too soon to talk about who was responsible for the stage and its rigging because the investigation had just started, but she had confidence in Mid-America, the company that owns the stage. Mid-America did not respond to messages left Sunday.
Concert-goers said opening act Sara Bareilles had finished performing and the crowd was waiting for Sugarland to take the stage when the storm hit just before 9 p.m. They said an announcer alerted them that severe weather was possible and gave instructions on what to do if an evacuation was necessary. But the announcer also said concert organizers hoped the show would go on, and many fans stayed put.
Witnesses said dirt, dust, rain and wind came barreling up the fairground’s main thoroughfare minutes later and the stage collapsed.
The full article can be found at: http://news.yahoo.com/governor-wind-gust-fell-ind-stage-fluke-164051343.html
New Crowd Management Software
When a crowd crush killed 21 and injured hundreds at a German Love Parade last year, the finger of blame was pointed at organisers for not noticing a dangerous build-up of revellers.
Now, in a bid to stop a tragedy like the one that struck Duisburg in July 2010 from occurring again, a new piece of software has been developed to detect when crowds are starting to build up to dangerous levels.
By pre-empting the problem it will then give security staff the chance to disperse crowds to safety.
Barbara Krausz, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems in Sankt Augustin, Germany, developed the system.
She realised that, when people become trapped in a highly congested area, they sway slowly from side to side in an effort to keep their balance.
The software she has created notices the motion by scrutinising the movement of each pixel between different frames of crowd video footage
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2022203/Festival-crush-disasters-prevented-software-detects-dangerous-crowd-build-up.html#ixzz1UYTeKpyX
This a great tool, but it is only a tool. There still needs to be a trained person to examine the computer and identify when swaying patrons are engaged in dancing or a posible crowd surge.
More Beer Sales
The NCAA has rules banning alcohol sales and advertising at its 88 championships. Furthermore, host sites must cover up alcohol related advertising. However, football fans at 20 major college venues will now be able to buy alcohol during regular season games. This number is twice as many schools as there were serving alcohol ten years ago. West Virginia is hoping to generate $1 million in profits from selling alcohol. For financially strapped athletic departments this could be a big financial windfall. Schools that currently allow alcohol sales include: Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Connecticut, Hawaii, Houston, Kent State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Nevada, Rice, San Diego State, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple, Tulane, UNLV, and West Virginia.
Israel style passenger screening
A new layer of airport security aimed at screening passenger behavior will begin testing Tuesday at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
The Transportation Security Administration will train screeners on sparking more conversations between screeners and passengers at Logan’s Terminal A security checkpoint — a first-in-the-nation initiative modeled after Israel’s enhanced airport screening methods.
“TSA has long recognized the value of a layered, threat-based approach to transportation security and the need to focus more of our resources on people who potentially pose a threat to aviation safety in addition to the system’s current focus on high-risk items,” TSA spokesman Greg Soule told Fox News.
Under the new program — part of a nearly $1 billion national program called the Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT — behavior officers will ask passengers non-intrusive questions and look to see how passengers respond. Those who exhibit suspicious behavior like avoiding eye contact and struggling with answers will be pulled aside for more screening.
“The advanced training the officers receive includes both classroom and on-the-job experience designed to enhance their communication skills and engage in conversations with passengers to verify or dispel suspicious behavior and anomalies,” Soule said.
“The vast majority of passengers will experience a ‘casual greeting’ conversation with a behavior detection officer after they provide their ID and boarding pass,” he said. “A small portion of passengers may get selected for an extended, but still limited conversation.”
Around 60 TSA officers are scheduled to take part in the training.
Logan is the first airport in the nation to roll out the pilot program, which is targeted to officially begin in mid-August.
TSA will evaluate how this pilot program impacts security, screening operations and passenger flow. The results will determine how the agency proceeds with the program.
Fox News’ Mike Levine and the Associated Press contributed to this report.