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Experimental data about the evacuation of preschool children from nursery schools, Part I : Pre-movement behaviour

Najmanová, Hana LU and Ronchi, Enrico LU orcid (2023) In Fire Safety Journal 138.
Abstract

This article presents experimental data sets and information about the pre-movement behaviour and specific evacuation conditions observed in 15 evacuation drills in 10 nursery schools in the Czech Republic involving 970 children (3—7 years of age) and 87 staff members. Based on the analysis of video recordings, over 1800 data points describing pre-movement times, the interpretation of warning signals, the reactions and activities of staff members and children, levels of physical assistance provided to the children, and exiting strategies were gathered, interpreted, and compared to key literature findings. Our observations showed that pre-movement times measured during the drills ranged from 3 to 59 s, depending on experimental... (More)

This article presents experimental data sets and information about the pre-movement behaviour and specific evacuation conditions observed in 15 evacuation drills in 10 nursery schools in the Czech Republic involving 970 children (3—7 years of age) and 87 staff members. Based on the analysis of video recordings, over 1800 data points describing pre-movement times, the interpretation of warning signals, the reactions and activities of staff members and children, levels of physical assistance provided to the children, and exiting strategies were gathered, interpreted, and compared to key literature findings. Our observations showed that pre-movement times measured during the drills ranged from 3 to 59 s, depending on experimental conditions, and physical help was provided to 25% of the participating children. The pre-movement behaviour of the participants was strongly influenced by the instructions provided to children as well as the daily routines, rules, and educational practices employed in the nursery schools. In addition, the principles of the affiliation model and role-rule model were identified as applicable to preschool children. To enable engineering applications (e.g., in evacuation modelling studies), findings are presented together with a set of nine behavioural statements regarding the pre-movement behaviour of preschool children.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Evacuation, Experimental drill, Fire safety, Human behaviour, Pre-movement, Preschool children
in
Fire Safety Journal
volume
138
article number
103798
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85154037052
ISSN
0379-7112
DOI
10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103798
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2e363d2d-273c-4916-b029-4abc476cf803
date added to LUP
2023-06-20 14:38:16
date last changed
2023-06-20 14:38:16
@article{2e363d2d-273c-4916-b029-4abc476cf803,
  abstract     = {{<p>This article presents experimental data sets and information about the pre-movement behaviour and specific evacuation conditions observed in 15 evacuation drills in 10 nursery schools in the Czech Republic involving 970 children (3—7 years of age) and 87 staff members. Based on the analysis of video recordings, over 1800 data points describing pre-movement times, the interpretation of warning signals, the reactions and activities of staff members and children, levels of physical assistance provided to the children, and exiting strategies were gathered, interpreted, and compared to key literature findings. Our observations showed that pre-movement times measured during the drills ranged from 3 to 59 s, depending on experimental conditions, and physical help was provided to 25% of the participating children. The pre-movement behaviour of the participants was strongly influenced by the instructions provided to children as well as the daily routines, rules, and educational practices employed in the nursery schools. In addition, the principles of the affiliation model and role-rule model were identified as applicable to preschool children. To enable engineering applications (e.g., in evacuation modelling studies), findings are presented together with a set of nine behavioural statements regarding the pre-movement behaviour of preschool children.</p>}},
  author       = {{Najmanová, Hana and Ronchi, Enrico}},
  issn         = {{0379-7112}},
  keywords     = {{Evacuation; Experimental drill; Fire safety; Human behaviour; Pre-movement; Preschool children}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Fire Safety Journal}},
  title        = {{Experimental data about the evacuation of preschool children from nursery schools, Part I : Pre-movement behaviour}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103798}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103798}},
  volume       = {{138}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}