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

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.

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 ASET>RSET, the design is considered safe.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thank you for your time. Questions? Catriona MacCallum Pre-Movement Behaviour and Times In Health Sector Building Evacuations