In light of the recent TV programme on C4 called the Falling Man which was about a man and others who jumped from the twin towers, 9/11, are there any other emergency exit measures that could be developed for tall buildings? I mean this if there was no way out down the stairs. For example, would any of the 'jumpers' have survived if they had jumped using a parachute? If so, should tall buildings store parachutes and the staff trained to use them? Or could an emergency ladder be released? Of course, such measures would be a last resort but even if they saved just one person, wouldn't it be worth it? I'm just trying to think of ways for escaping a building from the outside.
If they were high enough up a parachute would have given them a fighting chance, but I think the answer is to stop building skyscrapers.
I saw a documentary recently about a Japanese company that are going to build the tallest building in the world and this is in a country where earthquakes are commonplace.
How about one of those inflatable slides that they have on planes? Obviously wouldn't be inflated unless you needed it. Or failing that some kind of basic rope ladder that would fit in a cupboard for storage and when needed could be got out and climbed down? I can't believe that in this day and age with so many skyscrapers being built, the engineers can't incorporate some other way out other than stairs!!