Community evacuation following a chlorine release, Mississippi

On 7th September 1986, four miles north of Collins, Mississippi, a train transporting chlorine derailed. Two cars ruptured and gas escaped. As a result, 100 families were evacuated. To study the evacuation process, we conducted person-to-person interviews with sixty-two families staying in the evacuation center. Only 52.5% of the families received their first directive to evacuate directly from police or other officials. Delays in evacuating tended to be shorter when people were warned by the police and were told the reason for evacuating. Lack of personal transportation and preexisting health problems resulted in delays in evacuation. Concerns about evacuation included fear of looting, lack of a place to go, lack of transportation, difficulty in moving with children and elderly persons, and the need to take care of pets. One third of the interviewees reported feeling panic. Community evacuation procedures would be improved if: (1) officials contact all households directly; (2) the warning message addresses people's concerns; and (3) transportation is provided.     

地铁自动检票闸机对人员疏散的影响分析

本文采用计算机仿真技术,建立了地铁车站的疏散模型,获得了每个时刘的人员分布状态,找到了不利于人员疏散的”瓶颈”位置。同时指出了现有地铁站台疏散时间的计算方法的不足之处。通过模拟详细分析了地铁自动检票闸机对人员疏散的影响,模拟结果显示,地铁自动检票闸机的存在,降低了人员疏散的效率,在研制疏散预案以及现场指挥时需要审慎地考虑闸机的影响。文末就此提出了一些合理建议。     

基于可编辑VR实验平台的突发事件下跟随效应研究

建立了可编辑VR疏散动力学实验平台,并招募100名大学生开展地铁车厢内的虚拟实验,探究突发事件下的跟随效应。每次实验有一名实验人员和20名虚拟乘客(NPC)参与,共设置5个场景探究不同比例的运动NPC对参与者预动作行为和运动行为的影响。通过分析问卷、预动作时间、出门选择、运动距离等数据,发现在实验中存在跟随等待人群和跟随运动人群两种跟随效应,而人群的运动是更为强烈的信息,当等待和运动NPC占比从0%提升至50%,等待和运动参与者占比分别提高10%和60%。因此,在突发事件场景中,应及时对局部人群施加有效的同向引导,以提升整体疏散效率。     

高层建筑火灾人员疏散和人员伤亡的模拟

基于建筑火灾全风网网络模型的基础上 ,结合紧急疏散模型 ,模拟火灾时期疏散时间和建筑物内人员滞留的情况 ,同时也可以模拟可能出现的伤亡情况 ,有助于高层建筑的疏散系统设计 ,为火灾的再现提供了一个有效的分析工具 ,也为高层建筑火灾的风险评价提供了理论数据     

Stay and defend or leave early: Policy problems and experiences during the 2003 Victorian bushfires

Australian state and territory fire authorities advise residents to make a decision to prepare, stay and defend their properties from bushfires or leave well before the fire arrives in their area. The ‘Stay and defend or leave early’ policy is underpinned by strong evidence that well-prepared houses can be successfully defended and that late evacuation is a dangerous strategy. This paper presents the results of a study of the policy's implementation during the 2003 bushfires in North East Victoria and East Gippsland. Results suggest that despite high levels of awareness and support for the policy, there is some confusion over what it means to ‘stay and defend’ and ‘leave early’.     

基于优化方法的区域疏散路径规划研究

由于各种灾害的频频发生,对于区域整体及局部的疏散规划方案的研究具有迫切性和必要性。基于传统的迪杰斯特拉算法和回溯法的思想,对矩阵化的地图信息进行处理和计算,得到满足最大疏散人数、总体最短疏散路径、最短疏散时间等优化条件的优化方案。最后将这种方法运用到实际中,得出了某大学校区的路径选择方案。     

Simulation of scenario characteristics of LPG tank explosion accident and its contribution to emergency planning: A case study

Leakage and explosion of hazardous chemicals during road transportation can cause serious building damage and casualties, and adoption of highly-efficient emergency rescue measures plays a critical role in reducing accidental hazards. Considering a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) transport tanker explosion accident that occurred in Wenling, Zhejiang Province, China on June 13, 2020 as example, this study proposes a risk assessment framework. This framework recreates the leakage and explosion of the accident process using FLACS v10.9, suggests plans for evacuation, describes the rescue areas of different levels, and explores the influence of environmental factors on the evacuation and rescue areas. The results show that simulated and predicted distributions of fuel vapour cloud concentration and explosion overpressure can provide a reference basis for rapid rescue activities; the characterization of the dynamic effects of wind speed, wind direction, and temperature with respect to the evacuation and rescue areas can be used as theoretical support for on-site adjustment of rescue forces. The role of obstacles can prevent the expansion of the evacuation areas under low wind-speed conditions, and the presence of highly congested obstacles determines the level of the rescue area. The results obtained are important for the risk analysis and the development of emergency rescue measures in case of explosion accidents associated with transportation of hazardous chemicals on high-hazard and high-sensitive road sections.     

A mixed method study of hurricane evacuation: demographic predictors for stated compliance to voluntary and mandatory orders

The present paper examines the role of several demographic indicators on stated hurricane evacuation thresholds, or the lowest category storm for which participants indicated they would evacuate, for mandatory and voluntary orders. Quantitative analyses reveal that race was significantly associated with a lower stated evacuation threshold in both the bivariate and multivariate models and that previous refusal to comply with evacuation orders was associated with higher stated evacuation thresholds. Qualitative analyses reveal two key findings: (1) wind is perceived as more dangerous than water (rain and storm surge) associated with hurricanes; (2) traffic concerns were the most frequently cited reason listed for possible refusal to comply with evacuation orders. Implications of the findings include the value of future evaluations of race and trust, storm characteristics and threat perception, and other practical considerations for improving evacuation compliance such as the amelioration of traffic concerns. Findings also lead to the discussion of the social complexities of race and hurricane vulnerability as a key finding.     

Importance of incorporation of personal communication devices in evacuation simulators

The importance of the incorporation of personal communication devices in emergency evacuation simulators will be discussed. Four case studies are examined to identify usage statistics and human behavior when using the devices in an emergency. The case studies are: 9/11 World Trade Center Attacks, London train bombings, Virginia Tech shooting and United Flight #93. The case studies’ findings are implemented into the Vacate evacuation simulator, which uses particle swarm optimization to mimic human pedestrian behavior. The physical actions of using a device, as well as the reaction to the information transmitted during usage, are examined. Findings show that the effects of the personal communication devices can affect individuals that are close to the user of the device, as well as those not in the local vicinity of the user. These effects, combined with the rapid mainstream acceptance of communication technologies, justify the implementation of personal communication devices into evacuation simulators.     

Experimental assessment on the moving capabilities of mobility-impaired disabled

To take into account reasonably the safety requirements of the disabled on emergency evacuation in the design, usage, management and emergency response of public places, the authors of this paper organized on-site experiments for 100 disabled individuals (40 people with no supporting tools, 20 people using a single crutch and 40 people two crutches) and 17 healthy people at a subway station in Beijing. The experiments were designed to measure the unimpeded free walking speed of the participants during horizontal and stair ascending/descending movement, and to assess the possible impact of passage width on movement speed. Based on the results of the tests, the authors systematically analyzed the speed variation patterns with disability grade, gender and passage width. The validity of the value of an important parameter for evacuation safety design in the prescribed fire codes in mainland China, the width of a single stream of people, is assessed. Finally the results of the experiments are compared with that from other researches to identify the similarities and differences between them.