Trouble on the Escalator!

[If an incident should ever occur,
to ensure safety, just hit the emergency stop button!]
maybe we shouldn't be so quick to assume that.💡

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The autumn 2020🍁 excursion season. Although passenger numbers seemed to be recovering compared to about half a year prior, the lack of [inbound] tourism meant that numbers remained low.⤵
Before we were "hit" by this, Kansai Airport Station, as well as stations in Osaka city and along the airport access railway, were overflowing day and night with [foreigners carrying suitcases]. I used such a line for my daily commute, but one night, a "near-miss" occurred on the station escalator.

The incident involved two children, aged about 6 to 8, and their mother, who were each transporting a total of two suitcases between the siblings and the parent.🧳

Immediately after the children boarded the upward escalator, luggage <A> tilted and began to slide down, and the child, unable to support it, ended up "collapsing" in place.⚠
The mother, who had not yet boarded, naturally abandoned her own luggage <B> and rushed to help. She managed to get the child to stand and stopped the luggage from continuing to fall.👍

What did she try to do next?...
She tried to go back down the escalator against the flow to retrieve the other piece of luggage <B> (which she had been carrying)!

Of course, it didn't go well.🙅 The panic continued. It was on the verge of a complex, multi-incident accident.😲

Now, as a follower who happened to be there at the bottom, what would you think and what action would you take in this situation?

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I am not very good at "split-second decisions."('◇')ゞ
But unexpected accidents can happen suddenly.😨

When people around you find themselves in such a situation, the "common sense" relief measure required would be to "stop the escalator."

The [emergency stop switch] should be nearby, and you would just need to find it urgently (since you probably don't usually pay attention to its location) and press the button. It seems like something that could be handled in about 5 seconds.

However, I did not do that...
Did you think I was cold-hearted?😡

The actual follow-up action was,

◆ To take the mother's suitcase <B> in my hand and get on the escalator as if chasing after them.

That was it.

At that time, I said, "Just keep going up!" but then I suddenly thought, "Wait, Japanese won't work here (>_<)," so I pointed upward with a gesture while showing the "attitude" mentioned above. It was to make them realize, "You've followed me, so you don't need to go back anymore ☝." I had seen the child get up without injury, after all.
*I don't know the Chinese translation for the phrase "Please just keep going up" ^^;

The goal/objective to be achieved under this happening situation was

to complete the passage (boarding/alighting) with less danger.

Of course, an "emergency stop" is one method.
However, (even if it might decelerate gradually) it could surprise other people on different steps and cause them to fall.

Of course, "safety first" is paramount, but it might make the commotion even bigger and deepen the mental damage to this parent and child (👈 this is "hindsight" 💦).

A quicker way to bring about a "resolution to the happening" than trying to stop it seems possible, so there is an alternative approach based on that point 🤔💡

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After the matter was settled, I didn't want to make them feel strangely apologetic, so I left the scene with a nonchalant face 😏 as if to say, "I just wanted to go quickly~".
I did call out just "Okay?" though 💧

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"Which was the best course of action" is generally just "hindsight," but when I place the proposition of "how to get through it most safely" at the center of my thinking, I don't think one can just blindly say, "Emergency stop!"

Through that actual experience, I realized that what is at the "root of one's thinking" in daily life is put to use 💡

If you read this true story and take it as an article calling for people to "be careful not to drop your suitcase!"... 😨 It would be sad if it were just a superficial reading 💦

I will also be posting an article soon about the sense of discomfort I felt after reading a post requesting everyone's cooperation regarding the handling of 'emergency stop buttons on station platforms.' 🙇

✨ ✨ Here is another good story as well 👇 🤩 ✨ ✨

※ It seems there are examples of such measures being taken 😲

#DesignThinking #Essence #Rationalization #BusinessImprovement #Design #WhatIs #MyWork #Purpose #Ingenuity #Life #Transportation #Escalator #Falling #Suitcase #Trouble #Rescue #Accident