The September 22nd RESCUE drill: What have we learned? Miruna Petrescu-Prahova Vidhya Balasubramanian Chris Davison

Background  A safety drill was organized on September 22 nd at 2pm as part of Responsphere  Complete evacuation of the CalIT2 Building  Real fire alarm  Only the Building Manager knew, apart from the RESCUE drill team  Aim: to collect data about evacuation behavior

Data collection  Questionnaire –The questionnaire was administered to evacuees upon their return to the building by a team of sociologists located the main entrances of the building –Cookies and punch were offered as incentives for participation –N = 42 completed questionnaires  Indoor cameras  Outdoor cameras

Results – questions 1 & 2 1. When you first became aware of the alarm, what floor were you on? –First floor – 4 persons, 9.5% –Third floor – 15 persons, 35.7% –Fourth floor – 23 persons, 54.8% 2. Which of the following best describes what you were doing when you first became aware of the alarm? –Working at desk – 33 persons, 78.5% –Engaged in small group meeting (4 or fewer persons) – 6 persons, 14.3% –Engaging in non-work activities (e.g., coffee break) – 1 persons, 2.4% –Changing locations within building – 1 persons, 2.4% –Entering/exiting building – 1 persons, 2.4%

Results – question 3 Question - Between the time you first became aware of the alarm and the time you began to exit the building.... Percent “Yes” Did you notice others leaving the building? 76% Did you retrieve personal belongings? 69% Did you save files or shutdown equipment? 40% Did you tell others to leave the building? 37.5% Were you told by other evacuees to leave the building? 34%

Results – question 3 Question - Between the time you first became aware of the alarm and the time you began to exit the building.... Percent “Yes” Did you finish work or other tasks in progress? 25% Did you provide exit route information to others? 22.5% c. Were you told by emergency personnel to leave the building? 17% d. Did you ask other evacuees about exit route? 12% e. Did you ask emergency personnel about exit route? 7%

Results – questions 4 & 5  In selecting your exit route, which of the following affected your decision? A. Knowledge of exit locations – 36 persons, 86% B. Observation of other evacuees – 11 persons, 26% C. Advice from other evacuees – 2 persons, 5% D. Directions from emergency personnel – 2 persons, 5%  When exiting the building, which of the following did you use? –Stairwell 1 – 10 persons, 24% –Stairwell 2 – 21 persons, 50% –Stairwell 3 – 11 persons, 26%

Results - question 6  Didn’t work so well, people were confused… 1 st Location 2 nd Location (if applicable) 3 rd Location (if applicable) Location name/description: ___________________________________________ Reason(s) for selecting (circle): A. Safe distance from building AAA B. Followed friend/coworker BBB C. Followed crowd CCC D. Directed by emergency personnel DDD

Results - question 7  When you first became aware of the alarm, what did you believe was the reason for the building evacuation?  Fire – 5 persons, 12%  False alarm – 17 persons, 40%  Safety drill – 19 persons, 45% (doesn’t add to 100% because of missing data) –Note: these results may be biased as a result of the retrospective nature of the data –Good news: people on the 4 th floor were not more likely to believe it was a drill! (Chi-square = 3.2, df = 4, p-value=0.52)

Results - question 8  Using the map below, please trace the path you took when evacuating the building. Begin with your initial location (when you first became aware of the alarm), and end with the exit taken to leave the building. If you are unsure of your exact path, please draw a path which reflects your best estimate.  This is where we need help!

Issues  Synchronization between camera feeds –Mismatch between different frames in different cameras  Software to start cameras remotely and start saving instantaneously  Algorithms for video based tracking should consider –Shadows –Synchronization issues

Conclusions  We obtained valuable information about what people do between hearing an alarm and evacuating  Behavior and belief heterogeneity among actors was observed, should be reflected in the model  There is some inaccuracy regarding people’s reports of what they did