This article reports on an experiment undertaken to test the spatiocognitive competence of the visually impaired population in regard to wayfinding. The test consisted of eight basic wayfinding tasks, each representing a particular spatio-cognitive operation. The tasks were executed in a labyrinthian layout allowing for control of the difficulty level of the tasks and limiting extraneous perceptual factors, which tended to interfere with the measure of spatio-cognitive abilities. The experimental groups were composed of congenitally totally blind, adventitiously totally blind, and subjects with a weak visual residue; the control was established by a sighted and a sighted blindfolded group. The sample's 18 subjects per group were matched in terms of age, education, and sex. The performance results of the visually impaired groups in all eight tasks led to rejection of any spatio-cognitive deficiency theory. The performance of the congenitally totally blind group, in particular, shows that spatio-cognitive competence can be acquired without vision and without previous visual experience. The congenitally totally blind tend to perform better than the adventitiously totally blind and the sighted blindfolded groups, but not as well as the sighted and the group with a visual residue. The visually impaired groups, in general, tend to take more time to complete the tasks than the sighted control group. The results also show that age and education affect performance, but sex does not.
The research study reported was carried out on behalf of Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (P,T.E) in Newcastle U.K., in order to assess the efficiency of their communication system in the event of an emergency evacuation. There were two stages in the research programme. Firstly, an evaluation of the day to day functioning of the sub-surface stations as an information system was carried out with particular reference to wayfinding. Secondly, an experiment involving five evacuations was conducted in the most spatially complex station. The information given to users in each of the five evacuations differed: 1. alarm bell only, 2. alarm bell with two staff members, 3. alarm bell and minimal non-directive public announcements, 4. alarm bell with two staffmembers and directive public announcements, 5. alarm bell with improved directive public announcements. Three measures were assessed: the time to start to move, the time to clear the station and the appropriate behaviour in the situation. The results show that evacuations 4 and 5 were completed rapidly and safely. The study highlights the importance of issuing prompt instructions to the public, explaining what is happening, what to do and why, if a successful evacuation is to be achieved.
SUMMARY The word ‘panic’ is frequently used in media accounts and statements of survivors of emergency evacuations and fires, but what does it really mean, is it a phenomenon that actually occurs? This paper first examines the concept from the view of the general public, particularly the media. Definitions of panic behaviour related to emergency response are summarized and evidence of behaviour from actual fire incidents are presented through interview data and case studies. Despite the data demonstrating that panic is a very rare occurrence in fires, the idea of panic and the term continue to be used by the public as well as fire experts. It is therefore necessary to demystify the misconception that panic is an essential element of a fire and identify any scientific justification for continuing to use this concept. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An explosion below the World Trade Center plaza in New York City on February 26, 1993, killed six workers, and resulted in injuries to over 1,000 occupants as they made their way out of the affected buildings. The explosion and subsequent fne caused extensive structural damage on several basement levels, interfered with the operation of the fire protection and other emergency systems and resulted in the evacuation of tens of thousands of occupants of the complex. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) undertook a research project, funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the General Services Administration, NFPA and NRC, to study the behavior of building occupants in this incident and to document, to the extent possible, those engineering details such as building design, fne safety features, training, and smoke spread, that effected behavior.Over 400 occupants of the two 110-story office towers responded to a survey sent to the approximately 1,600 employees and tenants who were members of the fire safety team. This paper summarizes their responses, compares the responses between the two towers, and summarizes data on response times and initial actions.
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