Networking activity for Enhanced Evacuation Drills (NEED)

Lead Research Organisation: Northumbria University
Department Name: Fac of Engineering and Environment

Abstract

An evacuation drill is a pre-planned simulation of an emergency evacuation for a specific scenario, with the aim of improving the performance of occupants and staff involved. Although drills are informed by safety legislation and building codes, their merits are still not well-understood, and their impact on evacuation performance not well-characterized. However, they are still seen as a key component of safety planning/building certification.

There are significant issues with evacuation drills, as currently executed:
1. The effectiveness of the evacuation drill model is not well understood.
2. Drills carry both an inherent risk to participants, and a significant cost (in terms of temporary loss of building functionality).
3. Sub-populations are often excluded from drills (e.g., those with medical issues, or mission-critical staff), which affect the potential for training and assessment.

However, the availability of new approaches/technologies such as augmented/virtual reality, computational simulation, smart sensors, building intelligence and video analytics means that we have an unprecedented opportunity to enhance the way that we plan, deliver and analyze the results of evacuation drills or complementary activities. This allows us to disentangle the training benefits and assessment of drill effectiveness, following a case-control approach comparable to research practices in evidence-based medicine - pushing towards evidence-based evacuation drills.

Here, we explore new technologies, methodologies and perspectives to (a) enhance the training component of evacuation drills (ED), (b) improve the analysis and interpretation of their results, and (c) reduce both short-term risk to participants and operational disruption. NEED will establish a consortium of experts in evacuation dynamics, fire safety, immersive tech, data science, artificial intelligence, and computational simulation, to focus on these questions:

1. What are the main training limitations of current ED?
2. What are the main assessment limitations of current ED?
3. How do these limitations vary across the buildings and populations that are subject to ED?
4. What are the alternative approaches for drill training and assessment?
5. What are the major benefits of the alternative approaches identified? How can they be quantified?
6. What are the challenges (regulatory, public perception, technical, cost etc.) in adopting such alternatives?
7. What are the next steps for ensuring these challenges are further addressed through collaboration between UK and Canadian partners?
 
Description An evacuation drill (ED) is a pre-planned simulation of an emergency evacuation given a specific scenario. This is conducted to assess the evacuation procedure, and to directly or indirectly improve the performance of occupants and staff involved; training benefits derived from participation or observation may also lead to procedural enhancements. Although EDs are informed by a range of safety legislation and building codes, their merits are still not well-understood (given limitations in how they are conducted and how they are observed), and their impact on evacuation performance is not well-characterized. However, they are still seen by many parties as a key component of safety planning/building certification.

The availability of new approaches and technologies such as augmented/virtual reality , computational simulation, smart sensors/building intelligence and video analytics means that we now have an unprecedented opportunity to enhance the way that we plan, deliver, observe and analyze the results of evacuation drills or complementary activities, and to improve evacuation performance (and the assessment of such). This allows us to disentangle the training benefits and assessment of drill effectiveness, by following a case-control approach comparable to research practices in evidence-based medicine. The ultimate goal is to move towards a position where evidence-based evacuation drills are the norm.

In this project, we explored new technologies, methodologies and perspectives to (1) enhance the training component of evacuation drills, (2) improve the analysis and interpretation of their results, and (3) reduce both short-term risk to participants and operational disruption. Working towards these objectives may bring a range of beneficial outcomes, such as potentially reducing costs, improving training effectiveness and allowing more fine grained assessment of occupant behavior.

The core novel contributions of the project were (1) a comprehensive review of the current state-of-the-art in evacuation drills (in terms of both theoretical research and practical implementation), (2) the development of a robust set of criteria for assessing approaches to evacuation drills, based on a community consultation exercise, and (3) a new framework for comparing the costs/benefits of different approaches against these criteria to aid the selection and practical implementation of such approaches.
Exploitation Route This works provides a foundation for future work, which might include attempts to:

(1) Establish an evidence-based methodology (case-control approach) for assessing evacuation drills and alternatives; i.e. to measure the effectiveness of different approaches in a methodical manner.
(2) Harness novel objective and automatable approaches to data capture and analytics to better characterize performance (using smart sensors, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning).
(3) Develop alternatives to the current drill model, based on emerging immersive / simulation technologies (e.g., virtual / augmented reality) that specifically target the limitations of traditional EDs, and compare its performance to the status quo.
(4) Develop guidance for regulatory bodies on the application and cost-benefits of each approach (e.g., relative performance gain, loss of individual / building time) for different scenarios.
Sectors Construction

Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software)

Retail

Transport
URL https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=d9cffa69-69dc-4190-8e16-4de4d348c49a
 
Description The initial network that emerged from the original grant has now formed the core of a new proposal to EPSRC (due for submission in March 2024) to establish EVACNET: The UK Evacuation Network. This currently has 16 confirmed academic partners, and 19 non-academic partners (with more pending), and its objectives will be to: • O1: Build an active and vibrant multi-disciplinary evacuation community across academia, industry, government, and other relevant projects and networks, and to promote knowledge transfer between them. (This will consolidate our already strong national position in evacuation research and practice, provide a searchable "hub" for both expertise and needs, and efficiently identify and address both areas of potential growth and/or development and new network members.) • O2: Further improve the quality of evacuation research and accelerate its impact, through improving access to/sharing code and large datasets, and the generation of new collaborations, funding bids, research outputs, and consultations. (This will augment UK national resilience and improve our global position in terms of both scientific and technological developments and applications). • O3: Monitor the UK/global evacuation landscape and identify current and future trends through regular roadmapping exercises and the possible evolution of core research themes. (This will capture the current state-of-the-art in evacuation research within the UK and beyond, including its societal impact, signpost future legislation and other significant issues, and perform horizon scanning for emerging research themes.) • O4: Develop a strategic plan for UK evacuation research, and help to set the research agenda for the coming decade (This will suggest actions for addressing the themes identified in (3) and put in place a framework for subsequent funding calls and other exercises). • O5: Provide a collective voice for UK evacuation research and practice, raise awareness of its profile, importance, and impact, and advise strategic policy makers in URKI, government, and elsewhere. (This will reduce fragmentation and allow the field to agree and present coherent (if not always unanimous) positions on relevant issues of significance to the UK). • O6: Develop early career researchers and other future leaders in evacuation research. (This will nurture developing talent through exchanges, training, and access to mentoring and collaboration, providing opportunities that might not otherwise be available, and helping to ensure retention of high-quality staff in the field). • O7: Serve as an advocate for evacuation research to wider society, through a programme of public engagement and co-production activities. (This will raise the profile of evacuation research beyond the communities identified in O5, underpin its significance, and allow citizens to engage in meaningful collaboration that may inform outcomes, findings, and recommendations). • O8: Develop a legacy plan for longer-term sustainability of EVACNET beyond the funding period. (This will ensure that the Network is self-supporting after the lifetime of the grant).
First Year Of Impact 2024
Sector Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Retail,Transport,Other
Impact Types Societal

Policy & public services
 
Title Supplementary information for Gwynne, et al., "The Future of Evacuation Drills: Assessing and Enhancing Evacuee Performance" 
Description Summaries of discussions at main project workshop, and list of project participants. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact None, as yet. 
URL https://figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_information_for_Gwynne_et_al_The_Future_of_Evacuation...