Evacuation behaviors and emergency communications: An analysis of real-world incident videos

C Natalie Van Der Wal,Mark A Robinson,Wändi Bruine De Bruin,Steven Gwynne

doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2020.105121

Abstract

Emergencies such as fires and terrorist attacks pose risks of injuries and fatalities, which can be exacerbated by delayed, ill-informed, or unmanaged responses. Effective emergency communication strategies could be used to better inform people and reduce these risks. This research analyzes videos of real-world emergencies to: (a) identify people’s observed behaviors that increase risk during evacuations, and (b) examine which emergency communication strategies might reduce risk behaviors. We analyzed 126 publicly available videos of emergency evacuations in different emergencies (e.g., fire, terror attack, evacuation alarm, perceived threat). We found evidence of three types of risk behaviors (delayed response, filming, running) and four emergency communication strategies (evacuation alarm, staff guiding people to exits, general prerecorded message, live announcement). Our analyses suggest that having staff guide people to exits is the most effective strategy for promoting faster and more effective responses. However, neither live announcements nor pre-recorded messages were associated with delayed responses, while evacuation alarms were associated with more delayed responses than other communication strategies. Although people filming the incident was unrelated to staff interactions, it occurred more with alarms sounding and prerecorded messages, suggesting that these emergency communications might not prevent filming. Compared to no communications, all emergency communication strategies reduced running during evacuations. We discuss the implications of this research for identifying effective emergency communication strategies and reducing risk-increasing evacuation behaviors.

Highlights

The outcome of an emergency incident is influenced by the nature and timing of people’s responses, which may include delaying evacua tion, taking the familiar exit, running, and filming, all of which can in crease risk and impede safe evacuation (Kobes et al, 2010a; Lovreglio et al, 2016; Purser & Bensilum, 2001)
Videos of fire and terrorism emergencies and eye witness reports have suggested three risk behaviors that occur during emergency evacuations (Donald & Canter, 1992; Galea et al, 2012; Grosshandler et al, 2005; Kobes et al, 2010a; McConnell et al, 2010; Proulx & Fahy, 1997)
People may take up to 9 min longer to respond to evacuation alarms in residential drills than in office drills, which may be explained by alarm audibility, occupant training, and the presence of fire wardens (Proulx & Fahy, 1997)

Summary

Introduction

The outcome of an emergency incident is influenced by the nature and timing of people’s responses, which may include delaying evacua tion, taking the familiar exit, running, and filming, all of which can in crease risk and impede safe evacuation (Kobes et al, 2010a; Lovreglio et al, 2016; Purser & Bensilum, 2001). Evacuation research has focused mainly on risk behaviors during evacuations from fires and terrorism (Fahy & Proulx, 2005; Kobes et al, 2010a, 2010b; Lovreglio et al, 2019; McConnell et al, 2010), with the former causing more fatalities (Ritchie, 2018). Videos of fire and terrorism emergencies and eye witness reports have suggested three risk behaviors that occur during emergency evacuations (Donald & Canter, 1992; Galea et al, 2012; Grosshandler et al, 2005; Kobes et al, 2010a; McConnell et al, 2010; Proulx & Fahy, 1997). Given the prevalence of mobile tech nology and social media use, it is likely that this will only increase

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