#768: Lifepipe

Wherever there are crowds, there is the danger of crush-related injuries. Today’s invention is a simple and low cost way to reduce this problem.

In public spaces a tall, cylindrical dispenser would be provided with a smash-to-open aperture at a convenient height. In the event that people were being squeezed by overcrowding in such a space, sections of thick-walled pipe could be quickly extracted by anyone within reach (each perhaps 20cm in diameter and 30 cm long).

These would be rolled and kicked along the ground between the legs of the unfortunate crowd members, allowing a sub population of people to stand on them and lever their heads and shoulders clear of the others. This reduction in pressure between people would ease conditions for everyone and avert the immediate danger of suffocation, trampling and crush injury, until a way to disperse the crowd was achieved.