Emergency access used to be taken a lot more seriously.
Mid eighties, the office I worked got refurbed with fancy new push button phones and a dtmf PABX.
The phones in the lifts kept getting stolen, but never those in the offices although they looked identical, and I wondered why. I think the answer was that the BT exchange was still using pulse dialling, hence the dtmf phones might not work in an emergency. They were also no use to thieves as they’d not work at home. But if you were stuck in a lift you might be in more trouble, so those in the lifts were set to pulse dialling, hence more attractive to thieves, but also much safer in emergency if the PABX was down.
The answer nowadays is of course, in an emergency, use your mobile to get help. And I guess, you have to hope there’s a good signal in that steel lift within the concrete shaft.