Rallies. Crusades. Protests. Pilgrimage. Football matches. Market. Screening exercises. Crowd events.
How do you stay alive?
#1: Have a good, balanced meal before joining the crowd.
Don’t underestimate a good breakfast. It provides adequate glucose and energy to your brain and muscles. Some people are not pushed; they actually faint from low blood glucose and hunger, before they were trampled upon. Have a decent meal before joining any crowd. Packaged meal, fast food, glucose tablets or powder can then be carried along. Food is the body’s fuel.
#2: Make sure you remain hydrated at all times.
Carry a bottled water or water bottle alongside, if you can. Thirst is a warning signal from the body. Obey your thirst. Some people collapse from heat exhaustion and dehydration, before they get trampled upon. Water has a powerful way of getting you refreshed and alive. Water is life.
#3: Move and stretch — don’t stand for too long.
The problem with standing for long is that blood flow to the brain becomes inadequate. When it gets beyond the critical level, the body makes you fall down — you faint — so as to improve the blood flow to the brain. You might be well-fed and hydrated, but for some people, they would still fall after standing for too long — and get trampled upon. One great tip is to move and stretch, from time to time. Don’t stand at a spot, say while on a queue, for long. Sit when you can. Move around. Stretch a bit. And most importantly, squeeze the muscles of your calf and legs intermittently. All these improve blood flow to the brain helping your consciousness and intelligence.
#4: Be careful during crowd rush — don’t join them.
See, most times, death doesn’t come from the force of trampling; it comes from inability to breath. And this happens more often while in a rush, and you are surrounded, with people pushing from all sides, around you. It is called “crowd crush”. You chest is compressed; it can’t expand — you can’t breathe. You faint — and fall. You are most likely to miss your step, trip, and fall, during a rush. If you are already caught in a crowd rush, make your way backwards, against the crowd tide, if you can; luckily, you will make it to points with low crowd pressure and with a lot of space. [This is difficult to explain in writing. I guess I should start making instructional videos and audios ]. Don’t rush. Period.
#5: Be prepared and avoid bad crowds.
Avoid sedatives, alcohol, cough syrups, and anything that would affect your alertness or make you drowsy. Avoid what I call “bad crowds ” — crowds with little or no control, no adequate public address systems, few police officers, no health officials; poorly organised crowds, crowded (with little space), with one way in (and one way out).
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