Standing Floor Age Restrictions by Professor Chris Kemp
Many years ago, I was asked by the National Arenas Association (NAA) to look into the most appropriate age for children to be admitted to the standing floor at events.
After looking at different types of venues across the world, I began to suspect that there was more to the equation than age.
Investigation
When I started to focus on theme parks, I re-discovered that rather than identify an age for admission to a ride, a height measurement was used. Anyone not reaching the identified height was not allowed on the roller coaster.
It transpired that the cage and harness of many roller coasters are built to certain size specifications, hence the height stipulation. The rider needs to be a certain height so that under stress, the cage had the dual purpose of locking without crushing the ribs of the rider whilst keeping the rider safely inside the cage.
Next Steps
To further my investigation, I went to my local doctor to find out if there was any difference between the rib cages of adults and children. He spoke to me about the ribs of a child being positioned more horizontally than those of an adult, meaning that during inspiration the ribs only move up and not up and out as the adult rib cage does. This limits the child’s capacity to increase tidal volumes.
This led me into scrutinising what happens to younger or smaller humans going onto the floor in a concert arena. Participant observation showed that if there is a dynamic movement forward at a medium acceleration, the smaller or younger floor inhabitants tend to be crushed up against the backs and rumps of others in the crowd and this inhibits their breathing possibilities and could cause asphyxiation in an elongated time frame.
The main cause was that the rib cages of younger floor inhabitants were unable to move up and because of their age, outward movement was not possible thus causing a difficulty in breathing and creating panic.
Results
The answer to the NAA’s question pivoted on whether the age or height of a person was the most appropriate gauge to use for floor access.
If the answer was age, then identifying an age of perhaps 15 was defensible based on the fact that this age was beyond the generally thought 8 year approximation of lung maturation in children. Full maturation is actually completed in adults between 20-25 years of age.
If height is taken as a guide then this is more complex as some twelve year olds can be 5ft 6 inches whilst some adults can be less than 4ft 6 inches. This creates a wide disparity and a complexity when trying to ascertain who should or should not be allowed on the floor.
Conclusion
Therefore, the report back to the NAA stipulated that it was best to utilise an age and not a height as it was a narrower canvas on which to make a correct assumption on the safety of persons on the floor.
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