IAHA Asks: What’s Your Safety Strategy?

Owners and operators from around the country offer their strategies for running a safe haunted attraction. IAHA posed safety questions to:

• Kevin M. Gaiman, Nightshade Manor, Memphis, TN
• Ann Marie Gavinski, Morgan Manor, Waukesha, WI
• Mike Krausert, Bad Boys Scenic Design/Terror on the Fox, Green Bay, WI
• Brett Bertolino, Eastern State Penitentiary/Terror Behind the Walls, Philadelphia, PA
• Bob Turner, Haunted Hydro, Fremont, OH

Here’s what these veteran haunters had to say…

Do you have problems with rowdy visitors cursing, hitting actors or destroying props and sets?  How do you handle these visitors and protect your property, employees and other patrons?

Gavinski: Our approach towards “ROWDY PATRONS” includes several steps:

Step 1 – Parking lot security.  Our security staff that works the parking lot is our first line of defense.  If they notice a customer slamming a beer or who appears excessively drunk or ROWDY they immediately notify our Law enforcement with a very good description of the individual.

Step 2 — The ticket booth.  Everyone needs a ticket and 74% of our guests are buying them at the window, so our ticket booth employees interact with a majority of our customers.  If the ticket booth staff see or smell signs of trouble, again our law enforcement is notified.

Step 3 – The rules.  We have employees who give the customers the rules of admittance to our attraction along with tearing of their ticket. Same standards apply.

Step 4 – The cue line.  We have a very long cue line area that brings our customers to our “Starters,” who put all of our customers in Dark Cages prior to them beginning their journey through Morgan Manor. Again, four or five sets of eyeballs that observe each and every person that goes into Morgan Manor. The rules of admission are also reiterated once more before the customers leave the cages. It is at this time that if we feel a person or a group is a risk that one of our three security teams joins the back of the group and follows them through the haunted house.

Security Cameras – We have four monitoring stations with 24 security cameras in use throughout the entire attraction. We employee a minimum of one EMT at all times, whose only job is to sit and wait for an emergency call. He or she tends to stay close to the monitors so they can see what is happening inside.

Krausert: We tend not to have as many problems now as in the past. All security

personnel at Terror on the Fox are off-duty sheriff Deputies. Some of our

officers have been with us for over 10 years and know our event as

thoroughly we do. We keep rules posted along the queue and also have the

rules recorded on tape which is played during the train ride at the

beginning of our event. Our security is very visible at our event and I

think because a lot of our customers have grown up attending our event year

after year, they treat our security with a certain level of respect.

Bertolino: Our attraction is located in the middle of a major city and we have several bars and restaurants located right across the street.  In the past, we have had many problems with rowdy or inebriated visitors, particularly late on Friday or Saturday nights when the lines are long and visitors would head to the bars until it was their turn to enter.  (Our tickets are sold in time slots with a half hour entry window).

We have significantly reduced the number of security and medical incidents by making several small, but important, changes.  The most important change we made was to hire an armed, uniformed security team of about ten officers, many of whom are off-duty police officers, state constables or bail bondsmen.  We have a strong security presence up front, before visitors enter the property.  All bags are searched and every visitor has a brief moment with one of our security officers before they enter, even if he or she is just saying something like “Enjoy the show.”  If our security team believes someone is too intoxicated to enter, they remove the person from the line and contact a manager.  We then refuse admission to that person and issue them a refund.  Although we officially do not offer refunds, in these situations, we believe it is best to refuse admission and offer a refund, rather than risk a security or medical incident inside.

By the time they enter, each visitor is already aware we have “real” no-nonsense security officers.  Inside we have additional security officers strategically placed throughout the complex.  All of the officers and our EMT are in communication with over 50 mangers and actors on radio headset throughout the complex, which allows them to quickly respond to any incident.

Our rules are repeated periodically on ten television sets in the cue area.  In addition, before entering each of our five attractions, visitors will see a sign with these same rules and be verbally reminded of them by our line staff.  Because of theses changes, we had far fewer security and medical incidents this year than in any previous year.

How do you prepare your staff to be prepared for a medical emergency?

Gaiman: We were fortunate enough have several actors who happened to be licensed EMTs.  Each night we had at least two EMTs on staff.  Each EMT is equipped with a radio for communication with the house manager and security.  We have implemented an Emergency Action Plan (based upon Kelly Allen’s EAP document contained in his book).  All staff members are required to read and sign a document stating that they have read and understand the EAP.  During rehearsals we performed emergency preparedness drills.

Gavinski: The real question is how do we prepare our staff for any emergency.

There are three types of emergencies in a haunted house in our opinion. We have three code words for these types of emergencies. Code Blue, Red and Green.  These codes correspond to Medical (Patron or Staff), Safety (Fire) and Patron (unruly or someone that quits).

Medical – we teach the ABC’s of first aide and many of our actors have a two-way radio in their scene or on their person, and they will contact the EMT, security and myself whenever they need to.

ABC’s of first aide are: A – Clear the airway, B – Stop the bleeding, C – Control for shock, D – Dress and bandage the wound.

Safety – The biggest is obviously fire, so we have a number of fire extinguishers located throughout the attraction and all of our actors are trained in the proper operation of them.  We also work closely with our fire Marshall in all areas of safety.

We use a lot of law enforcement for security.  People see the cops and sheriffs (we use both) they see the uniforms, nice shinny badges and guns and they tend to behave quite well. Is it an added expense? Absolutely. Is it worth the cost? Most definitely.

Our entire staff goes through a number of off-season training seminars.  We also have law enforcement attend, as well and EMT’s to help explain emergency training to our staff.

Krausert: Before we open each night we walk the entire cast through the house

pointing out emergency exits, fire extinguishers, and we talk about how to

report a problem should one arise. We have a great system of communication

in place to pinpoint the problem and address it accordingly and swiftly.

Several people on-site are trained in CPR and First Aid and we have a

full-time paramedic on staff.

How do you make sure your sets are safe and keep your actors from accidentally injuring a visitor?

Gaiman: Each night, prior to opening, I walk through the attraction with the house lights on.  I use a flashlight and look for any protruding nails, screws, loose walls, etc.  All items are repaired prior to opening.  Half way through the night, the same process is repeated.  All prop items are securely attached to tables, bookcases, walls, etc.   Actors are instructed to stay at least an arms length away from the patrons.  If a patron is injured (and fortunately no one was injured this season) the EMT nearest the location of the injured patron is summoned and they attend to the patron.  The EMT notifies the house manager as to the severity of the injury and the appropriate action is taken, i.e. calling an ambulance, etc.

Krausert: All of our actors are “introduced” to their scenes each night. We show them which areas in the room are not to be touched. We also take steps to

not to allow the use of any hand props that could cause damage to the scene,

injure a customer or injure the actors themselves. If a visitor or actor is

ever injured at our event, we immediately contact our paramedic and

officers. Our staff can determine if the situation requires on-site

treatment or if we need to call an ambulance. We keep records of any

incidents that happen at the event.

Turner: Our key staff, which consists of an owner who has over 20-years of commercial construction experience, along with the chief building coordinator and head maintenance person, review all set designs for problem issues prior to building. Prior to opening to the public, we run a test-night of all activities to insure there will be no unknown hazards for the public.

With so many haunted houses using volunteers or hiring additional staff throughout the run, how do you ensure that all of your staff members are adequately trained to respond to an emergency even if they just work one night or are hired late in the run?