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I am rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. In this one episode called "Schisms" (where the crew is abducted and experimented on while they sleep), there is a scene where the internal sensors detect a supposed explosion in a cargo bay. Geordie says he has a team working in the area, so he and Data dispatch medical and damage control teams to the bay. In the next scene, you see said emergency personnel strolling down the corridors.

This made me start to think about all the emergency situations that have come up on the ship. I don't think I ever remember seeing crew members running or even rushing to their stations.

Is running prohibited on the USS Enterprise?

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    They do run in DS9, but then the corridors in a space station might be a bit more spacious than on a starship
    – Junuxx
    Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 8:55
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    NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAYS! Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 12:49
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    Just off the top of my head, I can think of a few instances: Wesley does a fair amount of running to stay away from the mind-controlled crew members in "The Game", Worf runs to his station once he realizes that Picard has been abducted by the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds", and (most relevantly) Worf and his security team run to intercept the possessed crew members in a locked-down turbolift in "Power Play". Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 15:23
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    This comes up quite a lot. e.g. in Voyager's "Extreme Risk", when they have to urgently launch the newly-built Delta Flyer in order to chase a Malon shuttle into a gas giant, Chakotay is dispatched from the bridge to lead the mission and is immediately seen sauntering down a corridor at his own leisurely pace, with no hint of urgency whatsoever. It gets me every time. Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 2:01
  • In the original series people ran. For example in Space Seed Kirk ran to the environmental controls when Kahn had taken over the ship, and also Kirk ran to the room to disable the overload.
    – Celeritas
    Commented Apr 2, 2015 at 8:13

3 Answers 3

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No. And they are trained to NOT run if they can help it. Though it may seem counter-intuitive at first glance and can make you wonder why no one seems in a particular hurry during emergency conditions like Red Alert, there are some important things to consider. As a former member of a military crew I can tell you we are trained to move quickly but not to run. During an emergency, you don't know what people will be carrying, so running through the ship really quickly can actually CAUSE injuries.

To put this in perspective for the Federation, again we will be using my former military experience as a reference:

  • On board modern military vessels, running isn't prohibited. But it is also not recommended. Conditions can vary on a ship from day to day, bulkheads might be open, equipment scattered on deck, broken water, steam or gas piping can happen even on the best maintained ships. People are also often carrying dangerous tools, canisters, and devices and using machines to move said equipment if it's too heavy to move by hand.

Moving munitions

Moving munitions on an ammunition ship

  • Cautious movement is always recommended, especially if you are in a part of the ship you are less familiar with. Most crew on Navy vessels tend to work in some parts of the ship more than others, so if you find yourself as a member of the Operations crew, far below decks in the Gunnery section of the ship where they move ordinance, you might move a bit slower as to increase your safety in this unfamiliar territory.

Repairing equipment on deck

Repairing equipment on deck

  • Rushing makes people forgetful, that is why ships have stages of preparedness and rarely go directly from Condition Green to Condition Red. Normally a ship changes conditions and people move from site to site depending on the needs of the ship. In known space, condition green would be the expected status, underway to less known or more dangerous space might have the ship at condition yellow. Only combat or real emergencies would move the ship to condition Red.

Reman Boarding Party

Reman Boarding Party - let's just say you don't want to run directly into their loving embrace...

  • Under more dangerous conditions Yellow and Red, most vulnerable equipment is already moved and only essential personnel are in the corridors. One of the other main reasons for not running might not be readily apparent. In an age of transporters and force fields, it might be more prudent to move quickly but not run to prevent from running into a transported hostile boarding party or a hard to notice (but not completely invisible) force field.

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  • There is also the issue of losing power if a ship is under attack, going from lights to near-darkness down a corridor, exploding bulkhead, emergency evacuation of atmosphere (and the subsequent activation of a containment field) or during a temporary loss of artificial gravity for example, moving slower gives you better control than bolting full tilt down the corridor.
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    Families had areas of the the ship they were restricted to and probably like real navy ships that are in port, when civilians are on board, they are kept to particular regions of the ship to prevent accidents. On a ship you have to work where there is room TO work. Starships have Jeffries tubes for a reason, but I suspect there are the occasions where things get moved and worked on right where they are, just like in real life. We just don't see it because it isn't glamorous to repair sensor array couplings in the hall on Deck 7. Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 19:41
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    ...well.. we do see it in "Starship Mine" and sort of see it in "Phantasms" (also the originator of the 'Android' phone... can't help it sorry).
    – Arammil
    Commented Jul 12, 2013 at 11:06
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    From your first picture: All those red shirts. So sad. Were all hands lost?
    – CigarDoug
    Commented Mar 1, 2016 at 12:45
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    @Oldcat Having a gun does not make one a warrior and being prepared for a fight does not make one a fighter. It makes one prepared for such eventualities but is not your primary goal
    – user001
    Commented Mar 1, 2016 at 14:20
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    Having a gun might not make you a warrior, but having a ranked military organization that participates in wars, does.
    – Oldcat
    Commented Mar 1, 2016 at 17:25
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Not typically in the original series or TNG, but in the new JJ Abrams Star Trek (2009) we have the following sequence in which multiple characters (one on the bridge as well as Checkov) run at speed

Obviously it's down to you to decide whether the new JJ Trek counts!

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    Seems like a pretty good example to me, but a youtube clip or something might be better.
    – Edlothiad
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 20:02
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    @Edlothiad - Show don't tell.
    – Valorum
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 21:16
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In season 2, episode 11 of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Contagion), at 19:04, Geordi runs to the Bridge with his intent to tell Captain Picard not to fire at the probe.

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