2,6 (unfamiliarity with the AGS)

B.    Unfamiliarity with the concept.
       
Because emergency evacuation is a sensitive, taboo subject, there is a strong reluctance to engage in any meaningful dialogue.  So people just don't really know that a legitimate order to evacuate would NEVER come from a cell phone.  If you give them enough time, perhaps they could figure it out.  But unless the topic is availiable for public consumption, the masses will remain dangerously ignorant.

What might a message say?  I refuse to speculate on the exact wording of a message or stream of different messages.  This is one of the areas where I will draw a line in the sand concerning what is morally acceptable.  However, I will say this, if you were to hand me a pen and a piece of paper, I could likely think of about 50-100 messages and subtle variations off the top of my head.

If you pose the AGS scenario - many will tell you.  Ohhh, I'd just stay put.  I think that's easy to say that in hindsight.  But in a real panic where you see multiple individuals falling down a steep flight of steps or witnessing a person literally being forced off a spiral rotunda plummeting to the cement below...  When someone climbs over a seat and kicks your daughter in the head, you just might have a different reaction.  Factor in alcohol and an unfamiliarity associated with widespread panic because the issue has never been raised = a recipe for disaster.

When a stampede erupts, rational behavior goes out the window.  Panic becomes the standard.