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An experimental evaluation of movement devices used to assist people with reduced mobility in high-rise building evacuations

An experimental evaluation of movement devices used to assist people with reduced mobility in high-rise building evacuations

Adams, A.P.M. and Galea, Edwin ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0001-6665 (2011) An experimental evaluation of movement devices used to assist people with reduced mobility in high-rise building evacuations. In: Peacock, Richard D., Kuligowski, Erica D. and Averill, Jason D., (eds.) Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics. Springer, New York / Dordrecht / Heidelberg / London, pp. 129-138. ISBN 978-1-4419-9724-1, (e-ISBN) 978-1-4419-9725-8 (doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9725-8_12)

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Abstract

Evacuating people with reduced mobility (PRM) from multi-storey buildings can be a difficult task. A number of commercially available devices can be used to assist in moving the PRM to the ground however, there is little consistent data quantifying the relative performance of these devices. In this paper four commonly used assist devices, the Evac+Chair, Carry-Chair, Stretcher and Drag Mattress are used in a series of 32 evacuation trials designed to assess their performance. The trials involve moving a PRM from a wheelchair to the device, moving the PRM along a long corridor to a stair and then down 11 floors to the ground. The performance of the devices is then assessed in terms of travel speed on the flat and stairs, number of handlers required to operate and ease of overtaking by other stair users.

Item Type: Book Section
Additional Information: This paper forms part of the proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics (PED 2010), held 8-10 March 2010, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA.
Uncontrolled Keywords: mobility impaired, assist devices, evacuation, disabled
Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software
T Technology > TH Building construction
Pre-2014 Departments: School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences
School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences > Centre for Numerical Modelling & Process Analysis > Fire Safety Engineering Group
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 14 Oct 2016 09:17
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/6802

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