Analysis of the Impact of Decreasing the Width of Direct Stairs in Apartments on RSET for All Occupants in Korea

This study analyzed the RSETs for 11-story or less apartments where the building-related laws were not retroactively applied, with consideration of the decrease of direct stairs width due to obstacles piled up on the direct stairs. The RSET was shown to be 631.8 seconds when the width of the direct stairs was 1,260mm. The evacuation time exceeded 5 minutes even when there were no obstacles due to the delayed evacuation start time. The risk increased when the width of the direct stairs was decreased to 960mm, 760mm, and 560mm because of obstacles, and the RSETs were 768.8 seconds, 803.3 seconds, and 834.4 seconds respectively. There are various ways to eliminate the occurrence of obstacles on direct stairs which increase RSET : First, it is necessary to remove the exception that permits the placement of obstacles on the stairs. Second, penalties for the placement of obstacles on the direct stairs should be enforced as written. Third, the fire safety managers need the authority to act on behalf of the fire officials. Lastly, it is necessary to encourage residents to report instances of obstacle accumulation. Henceforth, more research is needed on the spread speed of smoke and toxic gases depending on whether fire doors are installed through fire simulation.

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Numerical Simulation and Analysis of Compartment Fire in Subway Train

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.166-169.2726 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 166-169 ◽

pp. 2726-2730

Author(s):

Bo Si Zhang ◽

Shou Xiang Lu

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

Transport System ◽

Fire Safety ◽

Urban Transport ◽

The Other ◽

Compartment Fire ◽

Fire Simulation ◽

Subway Train ◽

Simulation Time

Subway plays an important role in urban transport system. Fire as the major risk of the subway, is gaining increasing concern. In this study, fire simulation is performed to estimate fire safety of different compartments of the subway train. Result shows that the two compartments in the middle become dangerous at 150s and the compartments in the two ends are not safe at 300s approximately. The other two compartments are always safe during the simulation time.

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PROBLEM ISSUES OF EVACUATION TIME CALCULATION DURING FIRES IN PRESCHOOL AND SECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS WITH INCLUSIVE GROUPS

Fire Safety ◽

10.32447/20786662.37.2020.11 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 ◽

pp. 72-76

Author(s):

O. V. Khlevnoy ◽

D. Kharyshyn ◽

O. Nazarovets

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Special Needs ◽

Inclusive Education ◽

Fire Safety ◽

Educational Institutions ◽

Projection Area ◽

Children With Special Needs ◽

Evacuation Time ◽

Time Calculation ◽

Movement Parameters

Introduction. In 2015-2020, the number of inclusive groups in preschools and classes in secondary schools of Ukraine increased almost 7 times. For our country, inclusive education is an innovative phenomenon, so its implementation raises many problems. One of the most significant problems is low level of fire safety measures. Сhild death from fires in Ukraine exceeds the European Union numbers by more than 4 times. As children with special needs are more vulnerable during fires, research on fire safety in inclusive groups is an urgent task.The purpose of the article is to identify problematic issues of calculating the time of evacuation in case of fires in educational institutions with inclusive groups based on statistical data, regulatory framework, and modern scientific developments analysis.The current regulations governing the organization of inclusive education in preschool and secondary school have been analyzed. Building codes that set the requirements for inclusive buildings and structures have been analyzed. Standards and methods for calculating the evacuation time from buildings have been also considered. The comparative analysis of the possibilities of the modern application software intended for evacuation time calculation has been carried out. According to the analysis, the main problematic issues have been identified.Conclusion. Currently, some necessary data about children with special needs are not available. That fact doesn't allow calculating with exact accuracy the evacuation time in case of fire in educational institutions with inclusive groups. A comparative analysis of the calculations made with the help of applied computer programs shows that in most of them there is no possibility to take into account the presence of children with special needs on the premises. In some software products, where such a possibility is provided, the movement parameters of children with special needs do not differ from the movement parameters of adults with disabilities. Therefore, determining the values of the horizontal projection area of children with different special needs, as well as the study of their speeds and the influence of their presence on the intensity of the general movements is an urgent technical and scientific task that requires further experimental and theoretical research.

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Evacuation Data from a Hospital Outpatient Drill The Case Study of North Shore Hospital

Collective Dynamics ◽

10.17815/cd.2020.44 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Anass Rahouti ◽

Ruggiero Lovreglio ◽

Phil Jackson ◽

Sélim Datoussaïd

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Fire Safety ◽

Movement Time ◽

Data Set ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Staff Members ◽

North Shore ◽

The North ◽

The Impact

Assessing the fire safety of buildings is fundamental to reduce the impact of this threat on their occupants. Such an assessment can be done by combining existing models and existing knowledge on how occupants behave during fires. Although many studies have been carried out for several types of built environment, only few of those investigate healthcare facilities and hospitals. In this study, we present a new behavioural data-set for hospital evacuations. The data was collected from the North Shore Hospital in Auckland (NZ) during an unannounced drill carried out in May 2017. This drill was recorded using CCTV and those videos are analysed to generate new evacuation model inputs for hospital scenarios. We collected pre-movement times, exit choices and total evacuation times for each evacuee. Moreover, we estimated pre-movement time distributions for both staff members and patients. Finally, we qualitatively investigated the evacuee actions of patients and staff members to study their interaction during the drill. The results show that participants were often independent from staff actions with a majority able to make their own decision.

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A numerical fire simulation approach for effectiveness analysis of fire safety measures in floating liquefied natural gas facilities

Ocean Engineering ◽

10.1016/j.oceaneng.2018.03.052 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 157 ◽

pp. 219-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Ruochen Yang ◽

Faisal Khan ◽

Ming Yang ◽

Depeng Kong ◽

Changhang Xu

Keyword(s):

Natural Gas ◽

Fire Safety ◽

Liquefied Natural Gas ◽

Simulation Approach ◽

Fire Simulation ◽

Safety Measures ◽

Effectiveness Analysis

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Modeling Evacuation of High-Rise Buildings Based on Intelligence Decision P System

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11174685 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (17) ◽

pp. 4685 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yunyun Niu ◽

Jieqiong Zhang ◽

Yongpeng Zhang ◽

Jianhua Xiao

Keyword(s):

Cell Migration ◽

Population Distribution ◽

Movement Behavior ◽

P System ◽

Migration Process ◽

Evacuation Time ◽

High Rise ◽

The Impact ◽

Interaction Probability ◽

Density Threshold

High-rise buildings usually have more complex architectural structures and hold more people than single-storey buildings. Currently, crowd management under emergent conditions, especially rapid evacuations of high-rise buildings, is a worldwide problem. In this study, a bio-inspired simulation technology extracted from a cell migration process, namely Intelligent Decision System (IDPS), was used to model the dynamic evacuation of high-rise buildings and calculate the evacuation time for different scenarios. This work was motivated by the comparability between the pedestrian movement behavior and cell migration process. Specific structure information of high architecture was also described in IDPS. A case study was done about evacuation simulation of a 12-storey teaching building in China University of Geosciences in Beijing. The simulation results showed that evacuation time varied with different parameters, such as density threshold, interaction probability, walking speed, population distribution, and stair width. With the proper density threshold and good interaction probability, the load balance of staircases and exits can be improved. For staircases with high utilization ratios, it was recommended that the evacuation process can be accelerated by widening the staircases appropriately. Finally, the impact of initial number of evacuees at each floor level was also analyzed in view of safety management.

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Lack of impact of nil-per-os (NPO) time on goal-directed fluid delivery in first case versus afternoon case starts: a retrospective cohort study

BMC Anesthesiology ◽

10.1186/s12871-019-0864-x ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

R. Ryan Field ◽

Tuan Mai ◽

Samouel Hanna ◽

Brian Harrington ◽

Michael-David Calderon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Operating Room ◽

Medical Center ◽

Fluid Administration ◽

Fluid Replacement ◽

Primary Study ◽

Start Time ◽

Fluid Delivery ◽

First Case ◽

Patient Reported ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Goal Directed Fluid Therapy (GDFT) represents an objective fluid replacement algorithm. The effect of provider variability remains a confounder. Overhydration worsens perioperative morbidity and mortality; therefore, the impact of the calculated NPO deficit prior to the operating room may reach harm. Methods A retrospective single-institution study analyzed patients at UC Irvine Medical Center main operating rooms from September 1, 2013 through September 1, 2015 receiving GDFT. The primary study question asked if GDFT suggested different fluid delivery after different NPO periods, while reducing inter-provider variability. We created two patient groups distinguished by 0715 surgical start time or start time after 1200. We analyzed fluid administration totals with either a 1:1 crystalloid to colloid ratio or a 3:1 ratio. We performed direct group-wise testing on total administered volume expressed as total ml, total ml/hr., and total ml/kg/hr. between the first case start (AM) and afternoon case (PM) groups. A linear regression model included all baseline covariates that differed between groups as well as plausible confounding factors for differing fluid needs. Finally, we combined all patients from both groups, and created NPO time to total administered fluid scatterplots to assess the effect of patient-reported NPO time on fluid administration. Results Whether reported by total administered volume or net fluid volume, and whether we expressed the sum as ml, ml/hr., or ml/kg/hr., the AM group received more fluid on average than the PM group in all cases. In the general linear models, for all significant independent variables evaluated, AM vs PM case start did not reach significance in both cases at p = 0.64 and p = 0.19, respectively. In scatterplots of NPO time to fluid volumes, absolute adjusted and unadjusted R2 values are < 0.01 for each plot, indicating virtually non-existent correlations between uncorrected NPO time and fluid volumes measured. Conclusions This study showed NPO periods do not influence a patient’s volume status just prior to presentation to the operating room for surgical intervention. We hope this data will influence the practice of providers routinely replacing calculated NPO period volume deficit; particularly with those presenting with later surgical case start times.

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What Five Minutes in the Classroom Can Do to Uncover the Basic Information Literacy Skills of Your College Students: A Multiyear Assessment Study

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice ◽

10.18438/b8dw4z ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 34 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ma Lei Hsieh ◽

Patricia H. Dawson ◽

Michael T. Carlin

Keyword(s):

Information Literacy ◽

Information Access ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Honors Students ◽

Basic Information ◽

Research Writing ◽

Start Time ◽

Information Literacy Skills ◽

Improve Instruction ◽

The Impact

Objective – Librarians at Rider University attempted to discern the basic information literacy (IL) skills of students over a two year period (2009-2011). This study aims to explore the impact of one-session information literacy instruction on student acquisition of the information literacy skills of identifying information and accessing information using a pretest/posttest design at a single institution. The research questions include: Do different student populations (in different class years, Honors students, etc.) possess different levels of IL? Does the frequency of prior IL Instruction (ILI) make a difference? Do students improve their IL skills after the ILI? Methods – The librarians at Rider University developed the test instruments over two years and administered them to students attending the ILI sessions each semester. The test was given to students as they entered the classroom before the official start-time of the class, and the test was stopped five minutes into the class. A pretest with five questions was developed from the 1st ACRL IL Standards. A few demographic questions were added. This pretest was used in fall 2009. In spring 2010, a second pretest was developed with five questions on the 2nd ACRL IL Standards. Students of all class years who attended ILI sessions took the pretests. In 2010-2011, the pretest combining the 10 questions used in the previous year was administered to classes taking the required CMP-125 Research Writing and the BHP-150 Honors Seminar courses. An identical posttest was given to those classes that returned for a follow-up session. Only the scores from students taking both pretests and posttests were used to compare learning outcomes. Results – Participants’ basic levels of IL skills were relatively low. Their skills in identifying needed resources (ACRL IL Standards 1) were higher than those related to information access (ACRL IL Standards 2). Freshmen in the Honors Seminar outperformed all other Rider students. No differences were found in different class years or with varying frequencies of prior IL training. In 2010-2011, students improved significantly in a few IL concepts after the ILI, but overall gains were limited. Limitations – Many limitations are present in this study, including the challenge of developing ideal test questions and that the pretest was administered to a wide variety of classes. Also not all the IL concepts in the test were adequately addressed in these sessions. These factors would have affected the results. Conclusions – The results defy a common assumption that students’ levels of IL proficiency correlate with their class years and the frequency of prior ILI in college. These findings fill a gap in the literature by supporting the anecdote that students do not retain or transfer their IL skills in the long term. The results raise an important question as to what can be done to help students more effectively learn and retain IL in college. The authors offer strategies to improve instruction and assessment, including experimenting with different pedagogies and creating different posttests for spring 2012.

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Optimizing schools’ start time and bus routes

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1811462116 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 (13) ◽

pp. 5943-5948 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Dimitris Bertsimas ◽

Arthur Delarue ◽

Sebastien Martin

Keyword(s):

School Districts ◽

Quadratic Assignment Problem ◽

Transportation Costs ◽

Mixed Integer ◽

Quadratic Assignment ◽

Integer Optimization ◽

Start Time ◽

Routing Problem ◽

Health Crisis ◽

The Impact

Maintaining a fleet of buses to transport students to school is a major expense for school districts. To reduce costs by reusing buses between schools, many districts spread start times across the morning. However, assigning each school a time involves estimating the impact on transportation costs and reconciling additional competing objectives. Facing this intricate optimization problem, school districts must resort to ad hoc approaches, which can be expensive, inequitable, and even detrimental to student health. For example, there is medical evidence that early high school starts are impacting the development of an entire generation of students and constitute a major public health crisis. We present an optimization model for the school time selection problem (STSP), which relies on a school bus routing algorithm that we call biobjective routing decomposition (BiRD). BiRD leverages a natural decomposition of the routing problem, computing and combining subproblem solutions via mixed integer optimization. It significantly outperforms state-of-the-art routing methods, and its implementation in Boston has led to $5 million in yearly savings, maintaining service quality for students despite a 50-bus fleet reduction. Using BiRD, we construct a tractable proxy to transportation costs, allowing the formulation of the STSP as a multiobjective generalized quadratic assignment problem. Local search methods provide high-quality solutions, allowing school districts to explore tradeoffs between competing priorities and choose times that best fulfill community needs. In December 2017, the development of this method led the Boston School Committee to unanimously approve the first school start time reform in 30 years.

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Appraisal of fire safety interventions and strategies for informal settlements in South Africa

Disaster Prevention and Management An International Journal ◽

10.1108/dpm-10-2018-0350 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 343-358 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Richard Shaun Walls ◽

Rodney Eksteen ◽

Charles Kahanji ◽

Antonio Cicione

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Fire Protection ◽

Fire Safety ◽

Informal Settlements ◽

Content Type ◽

Active Fire ◽

Passive Fire Protection ◽

Safety Interventions ◽

The Impact ◽

Broad Understanding

Purpose Informal settlements are inherently unstructured in nature, lack adequate services, regularly have high population densities and can experience social problems. Thus, fires can easily propagate rapidly through such areas, leaving thousands homeless in a single fire. The purpose of this paper is to present an appraisal of various interventions and strategies to improve fire safety in informal settlements in South Africa (globally, similar settlements are known as slums, ghettos, favelas, shantytowns, etc.), considering aspects of both technical suitability and social suitability. Design/methodology/approach This paper focusses on three specific aspects: ignition risk management, active fire protection interventions and passive fire protection interventions. These are presented within a framework to outline how they may mitigate the impact of fires. Findings Often “solutions” proposed to improve fire safety either lack a sound engineering basis, thus becoming technically inefficient, or do not consider social circumstances and community responses in settlements, thereby becoming practically, socially or economically unsuitable. It must be understood that there is no “quick fix” to this significant problem, but rather a combination of interventions can improve fire safety in general. A broad understanding of the various options available is essential when addressing this problem, which this paper seeks to provide. Practical implications This paper seeks to provide an overview to guide policymakers and organisations by illustrating both the advantages/benefits and disadvantages/challenges of the interventions and strategies currently being rolled out, as well as potential alternatives. Originality/value A broad but succinct appraisal is provided that gives insight and direction for improving fire safety in informal settlements. It is hoped that the challenges associated with the fire safety interventions discussed can be addressed and improved over time.

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