Determining the Effectiveness of Safety Measures for Self-rescue in the Built Environment

Abstract

Various types of emergency situations may occur in a city, region or country. In these –safety and security- emergency situations it is important for citizens to know how to handle. Preparation of citizens in the use of appropriate self-rescue measures can save many lives. Examples of self-rescue measures are: (automatic) alert with either limited or extensive evacuation instructions, dynamic signposting or instructions for the best direction of flight. The questions to be answered are: (1) What is the effect of these measures on the self-rescue in various emergencies? And (2) what is the effect of structural measures on buildings such as heat resistant glass or a more solid construction and (3) how do specific safety measures relate to other measures? This paper describes the first developments of a model for determining and comparing the effect of safety measures for self-rescue in various types of emergency situations.