Challenging indeed, but I wonder what percentage of a population you could get to do it, and whether it would make a significant enough impact to actually increase the chances of the entire crowd getting out alive.
After all, we have firefighters run into fires. And the odd random 'hero'. So it isn't impossible. I wonder, if it could be proven to actually improve your chance of survival, how many people could be incited to move toward the least dense space (toward the fire) assuming they wouldn't be slowing the escape by doing so (not already near an exit), and perhaps even pull back others from pushing at the rear of the crowd. If you could remove enough pressure to allow freer movement of the people near the exits to significantly increase the exit flow, it could perhaps make enough difference to save everyone, including the people who voluntarily moved to the back, who may or may not have made it by simply crushing at the door.
It would probably be highly dependent on conditions and how many people could be expected to take such an 'enlightened self interest' amid a panic. But it would be neat to see it modeled.
After all, we have firefighters run into fires. And the odd random 'hero'. So it isn't impossible. I wonder, if it could be proven to actually improve your chance of survival, how many people could be incited to move toward the least dense space (toward the fire) assuming they wouldn't be slowing the escape by doing so (not already near an exit), and perhaps even pull back others from pushing at the rear of the crowd. If you could remove enough pressure to allow freer movement of the people near the exits to significantly increase the exit flow, it could perhaps make enough difference to save everyone, including the people who voluntarily moved to the back, who may or may not have made it by simply crushing at the door.
It would probably be highly dependent on conditions and how many people could be expected to take such an 'enlightened self interest' amid a panic. But it would be neat to see it modeled.