Picture this.
You get into the elevator at Harrah's Las Vegas, expecting a mundane ride up to your room. Instead, the elevator gets stuck. You call for help, and it seems like an eternity until they get maintenance down there. When nobody can get the elevator moving, the fire department is called to rescue you. You end up spending 2 hours of hell there, in a situation which can induce claustrophobic panic even to those not prone to it.
This occurred on May 27th. Two people had to be rescued by Clark County Fire, as a result of a stuck elevator. I don't have any further details, other than that there were "no injuries" -- at least not physical ones. Psychological injuries... probably.
I once got stuck in an elevator in a scary situation. It was at night in a small apartment complex. It had no phone. It was in the late '90s, and my cell phone had no signal in there. I pressed the alarm button, but nobody heard me. Massive concern came over me. What if I was going to be stuck there all night? When would people finally rescue me? How long would it be until help arrived? Would it be a problem that I had no access to water?
I got myself out of it within 15 minutes, by using my head. I have since used similar tactics to get out of other stuck elevator situations. This won't always work, but it's worth a shot...
Most times elevators get stuck before moving at all. This is what happened to me in my story above, and is the most common form of stuck elevators. Most people picture stuck elevators to be a situation where it just abruptly stops in the middle of moving, and is stuck between floors. That can happen, especially due to a power issue, but it's far from the most common situation.
Typically, stuck elevators occur when the door closes, and then nothing happens. The elevator is supposed to move, and doesn't. The following methods can be tried to get out of this situation. I am so far batting 1.000 at getting elevators to open/move when using these methods:
Method #1: Pressing Door Open and/or floor buttons
This is simple and obvious, but some people don't do it. The Door Open button will sometimes open the door if the elevator is refusing to move. You can walk out at that point, and either take the stairs, or take a different elevator. Pressing a floor button can sometimes move it, as sometimes your desired floor fails to register with the elevator (even if it's lit up), and thus the elevator thinks it has nowhere to go. Simply getting it to move and drop you off on ANY floor will allow you to get out of the situation.
However, many times none of the buttons will help you, and you have to resort to other methods to get out...
Method #2: Forcing the doors open like Superman
Believe it or not, sometimes brute force is what's required to get out of a stuck elevator situation.
It's important to understand that elevators have two sets of doors. There is one set for the landing (the doors on each floor) and another set for the elevator car itself. The landing doors are essential for safety, preventing access to the elevator shaft when the car is not present, and the car doors provide access to the elevator's interior.
Often an elevator will get stuck because the landing (outside) doors do not fully close. Most elevators will not move until both doors are detected fully closed.
Most elevators will lock the doors once detected closed, in order to prevent people from creating a safety hazard by opening them at the wrong times. However, the locking often does NOT occur when elevators are stuck on a floor! This is because the elevator doors often aren't detected closed, so they don't lock yet. You can use this to your advantage to force the doors open like Superman. It requires some force (meaning a little old lady or a child won't be able to do this), but it doesn't require the strength Hercules, either. Do not be afraid to do this, as it will typically not damage the elevator. I once used this method to get out of a stuck elevator at the Rio, which was full of 15+ other people during a WSOP break.
It can be more difficult to force the door open if it's a full door which slides closed, rather than one where two half doors close and meet in the middle. In the latter, it is easier to get leverage to pry it open.
If the doors are locked (as they were in my 1990s) situation, don't panic. There's still one other way out of it...
Method #3: Making the doors make contact
Sometimes the elevator can just need a helping hand. It it has closed and locked, but isn't moving, it might not have triggered its contacts to tell it to actually start going.
You can assist it in doing so by gently pushing the door in 4 directions -- first left, then right, then center, then attempt to force the doors more closed than they already are. This will potentially trigger the contacts, and get it moving. This is exactly what I did in my '90s situation, as I came up with this idea after about 15 minutes, and got myself freed.
If you get stuck while the elevator is in motion, that's much worse news. If there's been a power failure, you'll know it, as everything will go dark. Some properties have auxiliary power for the elevator, especially large hotels, but some don't. Unfortunately, in a power failure, you have little you can do yourself to get out of it, so you might as well whip out your cell phone and dial 911, and ask for the fire department.
If it's not a power failure, then something has probably happened to the elevator mechanically, which won't allow it to continue moving. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to trigger it moving again. Again, you can try pressing buttons, but they aren't likely to help you. Door Open likely won't help, as it would open the elevator into the shaft wall, even if it worked.
Note that if it appears the elevator is at a floor and simply won't open, one or more of the 3 methods above might make it work. It's between floors which tends to be the biggest problem.
Do not try to climb out of the top of the elevator, as that's dangerous and can result in injury or death if it starts moving again.
Do not try to jump or bounce in the elevator, as that can cause further issues, or even cause the elevator to fall. However, be aware that most elevators have a safety mechanism which will slow the descent, and very few will just crash down and kill you.
If you can't get it moving again, try using a call button or phone. If the elevator doesn't have one, or if nobody answers, use your cell phone. Insist that they send people immediately. Tell them that you have claustrophobia and need help immediately, even if you don't. In some cases, people do not take stuck elevator reports seriously enough, or with enough urgency. Do not feel bad by demanding they come help you now. If you don't get cooperation from management, call the fire department immediately.
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The elevator maintenance/Hialeah Park Casino Staff were trying to get the man out of that elevator. I had to go home so I just took the catwalk and left. I don't know how long it took him to get out of the stuck elevator. 
Thank you Dan! 