Emergency evacuation of people with disabilities

Veiga, Rui; Cadete Pires, Cristina Maria Paulo

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/29225

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Authors

Veiga, Rui

Cadete Pires, Cristina Maria Paulo

Abstract(s)

Emergency evacuation is one of the basic strategies to ensure the safest and most efficient evacuation of people. In this context, it is necessary to understand how humans react to the threat and the influence of other factors in the evacuation. Evacuation routes and emergency exits shall be clearly signed. Emergency assistance must be designed in such a way that disable people can be assisted in a safe way. This process involves emotion and cognition, which needs to be coordinated with the physical condition and limitations of the occupants. Based on the literature, it was possible to compare the simultaneous evacuation of individuals with disabilities (physical or mental) with people without any limitation, and to conclude that individuals with disabilities significantly delay the evacuation process. The impact of building conditions where individuals with disabilities live on the evacuation plan was characterized by a case study according to the Technical Regulation of Fire Safety. The evacuation time was calculated based on the Spanish technical note NTP 436 as well as in the amendment accepted by Miguel (2012) for the evacuation time. Moreover, multiple conditions were defined to minimize the consequences of these emergencies and to protect the human life. Our goal in the future is to continue this study by using the simulacrum to explore occupant’s decision making and escape behavior and to calculate the real evacuation times and compare these results with the ones described in the literature.