Evacuation at Disneyland

It seems weird to think that our family might end up being one of a relative few to have actually been to Disneyland this year. But, while we were there in February, there was a fire in the backstage area behind Main Street. We had just finished dinner on the patio of a restaurant to celebrate Sam’s birthday and were packing up the stroller when the fire alarm went off.

Initially no one did anything. Indeed, the waiters were still taking orders and bringing food out to the guests. Then a cast member came out of the main restaurant and started telling everyone they needed to leave, and so everyone started congregating out in the street and security showed up to keep everyone from going into the buildings. Then I heard another cast member say that all the cast members had to go to a certain area so they could be counted and to be safe, and so the cast members started walking away to their evacuation point.

But, all of the guests were still just congregating in the street and we were being given no instructions what so ever. The staff were following guidance on what to do in an emergency, and at least some people knew what that was, but nothing was happening with us. Or to put it another way, the cast members went to safety and the guests were left to fend for themselves.

Now, we just walked away because we wanted to get onto more rides, but no one told us that we should leave Main Street, or not leave, or what we should do. I would have to say that it was not Disney’s brightest moment and I hope that they did a post-mortem and learned from the event and will do it better next time.

But, what would happen if we had the alarms go off while we were in worship? What would you do? If the children are in a class, where do they go? Do parents go to get them, or do they meet them at a designated spot? What would happen if there was a medical emergency during worship? Who would respond? Who would be in charge? Who calls for assistance?

We don’t really have answers to those questions at the moment, or at least ones that would lead to an organized response. And these are not all that unusual. I have had a fire alarm go off twice during worship in my ministry, and while it has not happened to me, I know plenty of clergy who have had medical events, most often heart attacks, happen during worship.

To take the first steps towards preparation and a plan, we are going to be installing signs at the front of the church on the light pole closest to the street, and then on a shed at the back of the church, to serve as our evacuation points. Everyone will be directed there so that we can then do a count and make sure everyone is out of the building. Secondly, we are working on an emergency response guide that we will put into every room which will have directions for responding to the most common emergencies.

While that’s a good start, it’s not a complete plan, and so our next follow-up steps will be to create plans for how we respond, especially during worship or other large church gatherings. If you would like to either participate, or even better spearhead that effort, I would love to have a conversation with you. It’s better to be prepared then to be figuring it out in the moment.