Investigating Evacuation Behaviour in Retirement Facilities: Case Studies from New Zealand

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dc.citation.issue3
dc.citation.volume57
dc.contributor.authorRahouti A
dc.contributor.authorLovreglio R
dc.contributor.authorNilsson D
dc.contributor.authorKuligowski E
dc.contributor.authorJackson P
dc.contributor.authorRothas F
dc.date.available2021-05
dc.date.issued1/05/2021
dc.descriptionCaul Read and Publish agreement 2022.
dc.description.abstractAgeing populations are generating new challenges for the safe design of buildings and infrastructure systems in communities around the world. Elderly building occupants are more likely to have mobility impairments, and in turn, require longer times and increased assistance to evacuate buildings compared with able-bodied adults. To date, only a few studies have been carried out to assess the evacuation performance of elderly evacuees in retirement homes. Therefore, it is necessary to collect critical evacuation data, such as pre-evacuation times and evacuation speeds, for these occupancy types. This work investigates the evacuation behaviour of elderly evacuees and caretaking staff using video recordings of evacuation in retirement facilities. The paper presents three case studies. The first case study includes unannounced drills, which took place in communal areas of retirement homes during a live music exhibition and in a kitchen. The second case study is a series of unannounced drills, which took place in independent living apartment buildings of a retirement facility. The last case study is of a single announced evacuation drill, which took place in a communal area of a retirement building. Qualitative results indicate that the occupants’ behaviours depended on their role (i.e. resident or staff) and on the type of monitored area (i.e. apartment building or communal area). Pre-evacuation times measured in this study are in accordance with values stated in the literature, and walking speeds fall in the range of values reported in past studies of these types of building. Finally, results revealed that there is a significant gap between the data provided in this work and the SFPE design curves used for buildings, since the SFPE design curves do not explicitly account for adults with mobility impairments.
dc.description.publication-statusPublished
dc.format.extent1015 - 1039
dc.identifierhttp://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000605118000004&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=c5bb3b2499afac691c2e3c1a83ef6fef
dc.identifier.citationFIRE TECHNOLOGY, 2021, 57 (3), pp. 1015 - 1039
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s10694-020-01058-x
dc.identifier.eissn1572-8099
dc.identifier.elements-id438432
dc.identifier.harvestedMassey_Dark
dc.identifier.issn0015-2684
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10179/17449
dc.relation.isPartOfFIRE TECHNOLOGY
dc.relation.replaceshttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/25261
dc.relation.replaces123456789/25261
dc.subjectRetirement facilities
dc.subjectFire drill
dc.subjectEvacuation
dc.subjectPre-evacuation time
dc.subjectWalking speed
dc.subjectHuman behaviour
dc.subjectElderly
dc.subject.anzsrc09 Engineering
dc.titleInvestigating Evacuation Behaviour in Retirement Facilities: Case Studies from New Zealand
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.notesNot known
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/College of Sciences
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/College of Sciences/School of Built Environment
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