This article is from WeChat official account:SME Science and Technology Story (ID: SMELab) , of: SME, FIG head source: IC photo

During the Spring Festival, I believe many people have seen the news that “girls living alone were trapped in the bathroom for more than 30 hours during the Chinese New Year.”

In the early hours of New Year’s Eve, Feifei (pseudonym), a Sichuan girl who chose to stay in Beijing for the New Year due to the epidemic, was at home alone. But after washing in the bathroom, I found that there was a problem with the door lock and couldn’t open it no matter what. The worst part is that she doesn’t have a mobile phone with her yet.

In the next 30 hours, Feifei tried self-rescue methods such as using a brow scraper to unlock the lock, breaking the glass with a shower to open the door from the outside, and violently breaking the door with her feet, but all failed.

Broken door lock

Fortunately, she was very calm, drank tap water, slept on the toilet to keep her strength, and regularly tapped the toilet pipes running through the whole building. Eventually, it attracted the attention of the residents downstairs and was rescued on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Fortunately, this is a thrilling story, and Feifei’s own composure is also the main reason why she was able to be rescued quickly. But imagine, what if the bathroom plumbing in that building happened to be hidden in the wall? Or did Feifei accidentally cut her wrist when she broke the glass and tried to reach the doorknob outside?

As long as there is a slight accident, this kind of “strange thing” can become very dangerous.

Broken glass

Perhaps many people think that being trapped in the bathroom is almost impossible to happen to themselves, but in fact, there are many cases of accidentally trapped in the bathroom every year.

In 2009, around the Spring Festival, a female teacher in Chongqing was trapped in the bathroom of the teacher’s apartment. It was around 6:30 in the morning. After getting up early in the morning, she took a shower inside, but found that she couldn’t open the door.

Because of the low temperature, she didn’t bring thick clothes into the bathroom. It would be more dangerous if she was trapped for a long time. Because there was no window in the bathroom, she called for help for half an hour and no one heard her. Due to her own strength, she failed to break the door.

Fortunately, there is a wooden vent below the door, and the louver-like wooden strips above are fixed with small iron nails.

Finally, the female teacher (the light in the bathroom just broke) in a cold and dark environment, squatted on the ground and used It took about 40 minutes to break more than 30 nails from the wooden slats one by one with bare hands, open an “escape channel” for himself, and successfully escaped.

Some people are trapped because the door lock is broken, which is the “unexpected disaster”, but some people pit themselves because they are too good at playing.

At the end of April 2019, the Shanghai police received a call to the police, a man named ZhangSaid his wife was locked in the bathroom. But the policemen who came to the rescue were also dumbfounded-their bathroom was “concealed design”. There were no handles on the outside and it was completely flush with the wall. The policemen had no way to start.

In the end, the omnipotent firefighters were recruited, and the entire door panel was demolished using hydraulic clamps to rescue the trapped people.

Generally speaking, it is relatively easy to be rescued when trapped in the bathroom. Cohabitants, friends who often contact, or neighbors who hear the call for help may quickly help the trapped person out of danger. Therefore, in fact, there are many cases of being trapped for a while in daily life, but very few people will be reported.

But what needs to be reminded is that when you are trapped, don’t make some dangerous attempts because of panic or eagerness to save yourself.

In July 2008, a woman from Tanggu, Tianjin was also trapped in the bathroom.

Maybe it’s out of the eagerness to save yourself, maybe it’s too embarrassing and shameful to ask for help, or maybe it’s just a tough personality. In short, the woman climbed directly to the bathroom window on the fifth floor, trying to turn directly to her balcony and then back to the room from the bedroom.

As a result, she found that the window frame was not big enough until halfway through the climb, and she was stuck. Even more embarrassing was that she hadn’t been dressed yet.

In the end, the neighbor who heard her call for help called the fire brigade for help. The firefighters also contacted her family members urgently as they broke the door at every level. After some tossing, they were able to save the person in a respectable manner.

If trapped in the bathroom is an awkward past for ordinary adults, then for the elderly, trapped in the bathroom may often be a life-threatening “adventure”.

Generally speaking, the social activities of the elderly will be greatly reduced, and they are more likely to be ignored for a long time without going to work.

And due to physical limitations, theyNot only the self-rescue ability is not as good as before, but it is also more likely to be unable to survive due to cold and hunger.

There are also many “self-rescue in the bathroom trapped” videos on the Internet, but the actual situation is often very complicated and changeable.

In November 2010, a 69-year-old grandmother in Paris was trapped because of a problem with the bathroom door lock. She couldn’t shout for help enough for neighbors to hear, let alone violently break the door to save herself.

Relying on drinking tap water and using hot water to maintain the bathroom temperature, she persisted for 20 days, and wisely chose to beat the pipes late at night in order to use the lowest physical strength to attract attention.

In the end, the residents in the building did call the police because they could not stand the continuous noise in the middle of the night. She was dying when she was rescued, and she was immediately sent to the hospital for treatment.

In fact, in addition to adults, many children who have not even learned to lock the door will fall into the hands of the bathroom.

Because it is often not the door lock that traps them, but another “child trap” unexpected by normal people-sitting on the toilet.

Because family toilets are generally designed to be used by adults, many children who are too young will “sink” in without paying attention, and it is difficult for them to break free from such a posture.

However, many children are of course the subject of constant close attention at home. Generally, they will be found and rescued soon after being trapped.

It should be noted that children who are too young are really not suitable for using adult toilets alone. If there is no one in the house, the body will have problems if they are trapped for too long. What’s more dangerous is that if they sink their heads down while climbing up, they won’t be able to make a call for help when they are submerged.

The most “Buddha” trapped personnel in history

In short, in an urban environment where more and more people live alone, young people should also be a little wary of the various dangers that may occur when living alone. Carrying a mobile phone with you is the most direct way to solve the problem of being trapped, and you must learn to calmly think about self-help when encountering unexpected situations.

For the elderly who live alone, checking the door locks of each room in the house frequently, or installing emergency buttons everywhere in the house can better ensure their own safety.

“How a Trapped Rugby Player Saved Himself”

Finally, Yiyi feels that it is necessary to remind you as a person who came here: Even if you are at home, even if you bring your mobile phone, it is best not to take off your clothes and go in for a bath without taking bath towels or anything.

When you can’t open the door for help, it will be embarrassing.

Reference materials

Zhou Yuhua, a girl living alone trapped in the bathroom for 30 hours, one move to rescue herself from danger, Surging News. Beijing Daily, February 22, 2021

Wang Xin, a female teacher trapped in the bathroom while taking a bath, broke 30 iron nails “escape” with her bare hands, CCTV, February 10, 2009

Zhou Baishi, trapped in the bathroom after taking a shower, the unlucky woman shouted for help, Jinbao.com, July 17, 2008

Dahe.com, the woman was trapped in her bathroom after taking a bath. The police rushed to the scene dumbfounded… Check out the news network, April 30, 2019

This article is from WeChat official account:SME Science and Technology Story (ID: SMELab) , author: SME