Citation

Gwynne SMV, Boswell DL. J. Fire Prot. Eng. 2009; 19(1): 5-29.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1042391508095093

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article describes the observation of an unannounced evacuation exercise from a mid-rise administrative building. The primary focus of this activity was to collect pre-evacuation data, although evacuation times were also recorded for completeness. The article includes a description of the structure, the population, the emergency procedure employed and the observations made during the evacuation (both numerical and descriptive). Data are presented in a number of formats including raw values, averages, ranges, and distributions, i.e., in as much detail as possible and in context with the evacuation scenario. This should increase/improve potential applications, and reduces the likelihood of misunderstanding. A simple graphical scheme was developed to connect the numerical and descriptive data collected and provide a comprehensive timeline of events. In addition, a detailed description of the data collection methods employed is presented, outlining their strengths and limitations. This article therefore presents a range of valuable data, a detailed description of the methods employed and a means to clearly present the data collected.