Having an emergency response plan in place is important for any institutional or commercial facility to keep occupants safe during every event from workplace violence to extreme weather events.
Facility managers were reminded of the importance of having an effective plan in place during a recent Jason Aldean concert at an outdoor amphitheater in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
Severe weather warnings were issued during an Aldean show at the Xfinity Center, an outdoor venue that accommodates 19,000. Video boards inside the venue were telling concertgoers to seek shelter within the venue or proceed to their vehicles, but the episode created uncertainty and angst among attendees unsure of the safest strategy.
Concert attendees were alerted to the weather emergency several minutes after an EF-1 tornado touched down less than five miles away. The concert was suspended at that point, and the crowd was asked to find shelter. At this point the messaging got messy, and confusion took over.
“There was no consistent communication whatsoever,” one concertgoer told Boston25news.com. “We had some staff in the venue telling us to stay where (we were), but then you had other staff telling us we had to leave, we had to evacuate.”
“It was safer for us to stay under the canopy in our seats instead of walking the 15 minutes back to our car during a lightning storm,” another concertgoer said.
Mansfield’s police chief said that all concertgoers were removed safely from the venue, and he maintains that the Xfinity Center’s emergency operations plan and procedures were followed.
Concertgoers would seem to disagree with that sentiment.
Dave Lubach is executive editor of the facility market.
