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Evacuating damaged and destroyed buildings on 9/11: behavioral and structural barriers
Justina L Groeger1, Steven D Stellman, Alexandra Kravitt
11 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, Long Island City, New York USA.
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
|November 21, 2013
Summary
Emergency evacuation from high-rise buildings is impacted by both structural and behavioral barriers. Understanding these factors, particularly behavioral ones like crowding and communication, is crucial for improving safety during building emergencies.
Area of Science:
- Emergency management
- Building safety
- Human behavior in disasters
Background:
- The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) provided a unique real-world scenario to study high-rise building evacuations.
- This research aimed to identify factors influencing evacuation times in damaged high-rise structures.
Observation:
- Over 5,000 individuals who evacuated WTC towers and surrounding buildings on 9/11 were analyzed.
- Behavioral barriers (84.9%) were reported more frequently than infrastructure barriers (51.9%).
- Smoke, poor lighting, crowding, lack of communication, and panic were key barriers.
Findings:
- Evacuation time was independently associated with the number of both infrastructure and behavioral barriers encountered.
- Women experienced longer evacuation times compared to men.
- Personal mobility impairment did not significantly increase evacuation time in this cohort.
Implications:
- Emergency evacuation plans must consider both predictable behavioral factors and less predictable infrastructure elements.
- Addressing behavioral barriers like communication and crowd management is vital for reducing evacuation times and risks.
- Findings can inform future high-rise building safety protocols and disaster preparedness.
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