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Fire alarm in a public building : how do people evaluate information and choose evacuation exit?

Benthorn, Lars and Frantzich, Håkan LU (1999) In Fire and Materials 23(6). p.311-315
Abstract
How people react to a fire alarm has been studied in retrospect as well as in experiments. In the present study, the choice of exit was examined with respect to the distance to exits and open or closed emergency exit. The second part deals with some communication aspects regarding identification of signs. It is shown that the subjects prefer a familiar ordinary cash exit even if the distance to that exit is longer than to the nearest emergency exit. However, if the emergency exit is open and the subjects can see the outside, an emergency exit becomes more attractive and most of the subjects choose the emergency exit. The understanding of signs important in a fire evacuation situation is very good. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons,... (More)
How people react to a fire alarm has been studied in retrospect as well as in experiments. In the present study, the choice of exit was examined with respect to the distance to exits and open or closed emergency exit. The second part deals with some communication aspects regarding identification of signs. It is shown that the subjects prefer a familiar ordinary cash exit even if the distance to that exit is longer than to the nearest emergency exit. However, if the emergency exit is open and the subjects can see the outside, an emergency exit becomes more attractive and most of the subjects choose the emergency exit. The understanding of signs important in a fire evacuation situation is very good. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Fire and Materials
volume
23
issue
6
pages
311 - 315
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:0033299865
ISSN
1099-1018
DOI
10.1002/(SICI)1099-1018(199911/12)23:6<311::AID-FAM704>3.0.CO;2-J
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fa2375f7-9e0b-42f1-815c-89d4c6e574b1 (old id 783746)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 17:07:36
date last changed
2022-03-07 18:42:52
@article{fa2375f7-9e0b-42f1-815c-89d4c6e574b1,
  abstract     = {{How people react to a fire alarm has been studied in retrospect as well as in experiments. In the present study, the choice of exit was examined with respect to the distance to exits and open or closed emergency exit. The second part deals with some communication aspects regarding identification of signs. It is shown that the subjects prefer a familiar ordinary cash exit even if the distance to that exit is longer than to the nearest emergency exit. However, if the emergency exit is open and the subjects can see the outside, an emergency exit becomes more attractive and most of the subjects choose the emergency exit. The understanding of signs important in a fire evacuation situation is very good. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.}},
  author       = {{Benthorn, Lars and Frantzich, Håkan}},
  issn         = {{1099-1018}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{311--315}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Fire and Materials}},
  title        = {{Fire alarm in a public building : how do people evaluate information and choose evacuation exit?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1018(199911/12)23:6<311::AID-FAM704>3.0.CO;2-J}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/(SICI)1099-1018(199911/12)23:6<311::AID-FAM704>3.0.CO;2-J}},
  volume       = {{23}},
  year         = {{1999}},
}