henric
10-14-2011, 12:52 AM
13/10/2011 10:34:00 AM
by Sameer Vasta
A family who decided to explore a corn maze one afternoon needed to call emergency services after getting lost. Was there something else they could have done?
Halloween is quickly approaching, and with the arrival of the end of October comes a bevy of haunted houses, haunted mazes, and all things ghoulish. One farmer in Massachusetts learned that setting up a corn maze on his farm could end up being trouble, after police squad cars and a rescue team were called to his property to find a family that were lost in his attraction.
The couple and their three-week-old son entered the maze in daylight, and as the sky grew darker, were unable to find their way out. They called 911 to alert the authorities that they were trapped. Minutes later, a rescue team found the family in the maze, 25 feet away from the exit.
Farm owner Bob Connors says that his maze was made to take time; it takes some people up to an hour to eventually find their way out, and the farmers give maze-goers enough time to really appreciate the intricacy of the maze.
From the reports, it doesn't seem like the baby was in distress — the decision to take a three-week-old baby into a maze that often takes over an hour to navigate is, itself, suspect — so the call to 911 wasn't an emergency situation, but instead a situation of panic. Being lost in a maze is disorienting and frightening, but when you know that it is a human-created maze and that there are people out there that know you're inside, it's hardly an occasion to call emergency services to get out. Police services are better used than trying to find people in a farm attraction.
This situation sets a bad precedent: people lost in a corn maze should have other ways of getting help, and not feel like they need to take up valuable police time to find their way out. Perhaps the farmer can give each maze-goer a phone number for the farm so that people in distress can call them instead of 911; perhaps this is already being done. Additionally, I'm sure that the farmers know that if people have been in the maze for a couple of hours, it may be time to go in to look for them.
The police should make it clear: if you're going into a maze that takes over an hour to navigate, don't call us an hour into your stroll to get you out unless there's a real emergency. Using valuable emergency personnel resources to find someone 25 feet away from the exit of a maze isn't right and shouldn't be considered a first resort. Before you decide to go and have some fun in a maze, or any attraction this Halloween season, ask some questions and know what you're getting into; entertainment shouldn't get in the way of police work.
by Sameer Vasta
A family who decided to explore a corn maze one afternoon needed to call emergency services after getting lost. Was there something else they could have done?
Halloween is quickly approaching, and with the arrival of the end of October comes a bevy of haunted houses, haunted mazes, and all things ghoulish. One farmer in Massachusetts learned that setting up a corn maze on his farm could end up being trouble, after police squad cars and a rescue team were called to his property to find a family that were lost in his attraction.
The couple and their three-week-old son entered the maze in daylight, and as the sky grew darker, were unable to find their way out. They called 911 to alert the authorities that they were trapped. Minutes later, a rescue team found the family in the maze, 25 feet away from the exit.
Farm owner Bob Connors says that his maze was made to take time; it takes some people up to an hour to eventually find their way out, and the farmers give maze-goers enough time to really appreciate the intricacy of the maze.
From the reports, it doesn't seem like the baby was in distress — the decision to take a three-week-old baby into a maze that often takes over an hour to navigate is, itself, suspect — so the call to 911 wasn't an emergency situation, but instead a situation of panic. Being lost in a maze is disorienting and frightening, but when you know that it is a human-created maze and that there are people out there that know you're inside, it's hardly an occasion to call emergency services to get out. Police services are better used than trying to find people in a farm attraction.
This situation sets a bad precedent: people lost in a corn maze should have other ways of getting help, and not feel like they need to take up valuable police time to find their way out. Perhaps the farmer can give each maze-goer a phone number for the farm so that people in distress can call them instead of 911; perhaps this is already being done. Additionally, I'm sure that the farmers know that if people have been in the maze for a couple of hours, it may be time to go in to look for them.
The police should make it clear: if you're going into a maze that takes over an hour to navigate, don't call us an hour into your stroll to get you out unless there's a real emergency. Using valuable emergency personnel resources to find someone 25 feet away from the exit of a maze isn't right and shouldn't be considered a first resort. Before you decide to go and have some fun in a maze, or any attraction this Halloween season, ask some questions and know what you're getting into; entertainment shouldn't get in the way of police work.