Pre-Movement Behaviour and Times In Health Sector Building Evacuations

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Pre-Movement Behaviour and Times In Health Sector
Building Evacuations

• Catriona MacCallum

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Pre-Movement Behaviour and Time

• Pre-Movement Behaviour encompasses all actions
  taken between the initial recognition of a fire
  cue and actual escape movement.
• Pre-Movement Time is the time taken between
  initial response to a fire cue and the decision
  to move towards an escape route.

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ASET/RSET

• Within a Performance Based Design the ASET/RSET
  concept is practiced to determine whether a
  design is safe and provides adequate escape time
  or not.
• ASET Available Safe Egress Time.
• RSET Required Safe Egress Time.
• When ASETgtRSET, the design is considered safe.

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• The ASET/RSET concept is considered by some to be
  flawed as
• Takes no account of variations in capabilities
  physical condition of an individual.
• It assumes that a person will move robotically to
  the best exit.
• It also ignores the wide variety of fire
  scenarios which can drastically change both RSET
  and ASET within the same building.
• A Comparable Margin of Safety between two
  different strategies has been suggested.

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Health Sector Evacuations

• Individuals in the health sector are often
  dependant on the actions and instructions of
  staff.
• It is difficult to predict which
  injuries/capabilities will present the greatest
  difficulty to staff during an evacuation.

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Evaluation Process

• Questionnaires
• to evaluate and analyze the difference in
  behaviour and emotions between Evacuation Drills
  and an Actual Evacuations.
• Interviews with staff
• compile a schedule of methods used to evacuate
  during a fire and compare these with best
  practice
• to evaluate recommendations from staff members
  with regards to what they feel works during an
  actual evacuation.
• Using historical research
• to evaluate the effects of smoke, CO HCN on
  movement and evaluate the effects of different
  quantities produced from different burning matter
  under flaming and smoldering conditions.

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• Using a test site
• to analyze the fire scenario, actual evacuation
  data, drill data and time scales to evaluate how
  they compare with published material.
• Using raw data
• To evaluate whether ASET/RSET or Comparative
  Margin of Safety would have provided a more
  effective evacuation for staff and patients
  alike.

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Progress Future Work

• Progress
• This work has been under-investigation for
  approximately 2 months
• The initial questionnaires have been created
  reviewed.
• Negotiations are on-going with target hospitals
  and the HSE.
• To be completed
• Final questionnaire(s) to be distributed
• Evacuations to be carried out and or historical
  evacuations analysed
• Interviews to be scheduled
• Data to be analyzed and conclusions drawn.

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Thank you for your time.Questions?

• Catriona MacCallum
• Pre-Movement Behaviour and Times In Health Sector
  Building Evacuations