Date of Award:

5-2012

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Committee Chair(s)

John D. Johnson (Committee Co-Chair), Yong Seog Kim (Committee Co-Chair)

Committee

John D. Johnson

Committee

Yong Seog Kim

Committee

David Olsen

Committee

Keith Christensen

Committee

Anthony Chen

Abstract

Evacuation planning is important for businesses given the continuing occurrence of both natural and human-caused disasters throughout the world. Unfortunately, the traditional fire-drill approach is impractical for many large organizations but especially those responsible for airports and sports arenas. The purpose of this research was to develop a new computer program capable of simulating large scale evacuations in such buildings. The program, called Exitus, is different from other evacuation simulators in the way it considers the physical, psychological, and social characteristics of individuals with disabilities during emergency situations.

In this research, Exitus was used to simulate evacuations of three buildings located near the university campus; a multi-story office building, an international airport and a major sports arena. The results of the simulations pointed to several important considerations for managers including: (a) how long evacuations of such buildings may be expected to last, (b) who the most vulnerable groups of people area, (c) what architectural features help or hinder evacuations, and (d) the potential benefits of certain evacuation strategies over others. Ultimately, a management approach featuring both tactical and strategic planning with an eye toward the unique problems presented by individuals with disabilities is recommended.

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3144c07385634e1df9ccdf45fe11b908

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This work made publicly available electronically on May 10, 2012.

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