Why does an EMERGENCY EXIT door have a 30 second delay?

[Moosepoop]

Jamaal Bowman aside, I'm still stuck on the notion that an EMERGENCY EXIT first requires a 3-second-long push on its bar to activate an alarm, and THEN another 30-second wait for the door to unlock. What the hell??

In the event of, say, a fire or an active shooter, that 30-second delay is an eternity, and very possibly the difference between life and death. 33 seconds, actually, if you count the time pushing on the alarm bar.

Every emergency exit I've ever encountered had, at most, a bar to push that instantly opened the door and simultaneously activated an alarm. Why on earth would such a door be designed to make anyone wait a full half-minute to get out of the building??

Is this more common than I realize?

[rubbersole]

1. 30 seconds gives you time...

...to put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye. 😘

[John1956PA]

2. Another DUer explained why.

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=18319960

[Moosepoop]

4. Thank you -- I had somehow missed that thread.

Glad to see that others had similar thoughts. One problem I have with the explanation given is that this "external door to a secure complex" is completely unlocked and normal most of the time. Are there armed guards posted at the door during normal business hours?

Either way, and "the fucked up times we live in" notwithstanding, in a true emergency the wait could be lethal. It's not a "necessary evil." Dead is dead.

[bottomofthehill]

11. Yes, when the doors are open they are posted

Not with “guards” but with members of the US Capitol police. It is posted with armed police officers.

[intheflow]

10. Naw, that's not the post that explains it. This is:

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=18319181

Basically, in case of fire, sensors will unlock the door sooner. It’s a fire door. Just look at the signs. They look like they date from the ‘80s when no one could imagine a J6 scenario.

[bottomofthehill]

12. It actually is the post that explains it.

The Capitol Complex is exempt from DC Fire Code. Like many things, they exempt themselves from. It’s an office building where Members of Congress sleep in their offices, they access balconies with limited safety rails, they smoke in their offices in a public building and shockingly they are exempt from the Fire Code. They follow it where they choose to….

[Skittles]

3. so fucking idiots don't set it off?

[Moosepoop]

5. What's the worst thing that would happen if a fucking idiot set it off?

And what's the worst thing that could happen in an emergency?

[dchill]

6. Exactly!

[Old Crank]

9. Injury while over a thousand people try

To get out of the exits.
There is also the chance of alarm fatigue, people will stay and put on headphones to block the false alarm.

[MichMan]

15. "What's the worst thing that would happen if a fucking idiot set it off?"

To let someone in from the outside who wasn't permitted access? You can't allow people to be able to bypass security in a building like that.

[Old Crank]

7. Delays for some exit doors are in the fire code

15 or 30 seconds.
Usually if a fire detection device alerts that overrides the door. Reasons other than theft prevention are to give any security time to respond if someone hits the panic bar by accident. All are labelled for emergency use and all show the time delay.
Many nursing homes have them, usually with video monitoring so patients won't just open the door and leave. Think dementia.

[Wonder Why]

14. It gives time for the insurrectionists to catch up. Many are out of shape so it's only fair.

[yardwork]

16. I shouldn't laugh but I did!