Research into peoples reactions to emergencies aims to make sure there are more survivors in future.
Imagine youre stuck in a burning building, trying desperately to escape. After stumbling to the end of a smoke-filled corridor, you have to choose whether to turn left or right. The decision could determine whether you live or die but the way you make it is not as random as you might think, according to Ed Galea, professor of mathematical modelling at the University of Greenwich.
Galea has forged a career out of working out the science and psychology behind how peoples brains function in disaster zones. He has interviewed thousands of survivors, from 300 people who escaped the World Trade Center on 9/11 to plane crash and Paddington rail disaster survivors. The results of his research are used by governments, building designers and emergency workers around the world to try to plan for the effects of future catastrophes.
His latest project, funded by a 2 million European Union grant, is BeSeCu , which involves trying to understand whether culture affects the way people behave in emergency situations. The question were answering is, do people from different countries behave differently in a crisis?, says Galea. Most of the data thats used in evacuation analysis is from the UK, US and Australia. Theres an implicit assumption that people everywhere behave the same, but were not sure thats true.
So BeSeCu is carrying out unannounced evacuation drills in multistorey university library buildings around Europe, including Poland, Czech Republic and Turkey, and comparing the results with evacuation data from Brazil and the UK. Were going to compare the data on response time and behaviour. If it varies in different places, that will suggest a need to change how we plan for emergency situations well have to take a much more localised approach.
Galeas interest was triggered by victims responses to a tragic fire in the Daegu underground in Korea. I looked at photographs of the inside of burning carriages, and collaborated with a Korean researcher who interviewed survivors. Most sat around, waiting for instructions from an authority figure. When I presented the findings at a UK conference, it was suggested that my data was irrelevant because that would never happen in the UK. So I started wondering whether people around the world react differently.
Working at Greenwichs Fire Safety Engineering Group, Galea and his team have designed Exodus, a computer modelling system that can simulate how people behave in emergency evacuations, which is used in 33 countries. It was used in the design of Londons O2 arena, Sydneys Olympic stadium, the birds nest arena in Beijing and the Airbus A380.
Now he is adding to the model by analysing data from interviews with survivors of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London and the Madrid bombings. By studying how people responded on the underground trains and in the stations, we hope to better understand how the perception of risk, reaction to authority figures and interaction with other survivors influences emergency behaviour. The findings will be used to improve computer software so it better reflects how people behave in emergencies and can be more reliable in building design.
There are also practical ideas that are easier to implement, Galea says. Im looking at how people respond to alarms and instructions. If people on trains always wait for an official to tell them what to do, then perhaps we need to improve communication systems on trains so they have a better chance of working in extreme situations.
Galea is also investigating how people think when trying to escape house fires or a flooding house. Weve set up an online survey looking at how people move at intersections, do they go left or right, for example. So far it seems that left-handed and right-handed people behave differently, and so do people who drive on different sides of the road. Working out the patterns will give people a better chance of surviving future disasters.
Galea, who spends his days mapping human behaviour, fell into his work completely by accident. More than two decades later, he has amassed plenty of advice on getting out of a fire or crash alive. The main thing is having good situational awareness, he says. Understand the environment youre in, whether its a plane, train, ship or building, know where your nearest exit is and how youd escape in a hurry. If youre travelling with family, plan what you would do in an emergency, like whether youd try to reunite before escaping, or meet outside.
On planes, Galea recommends choosing a seat close to an exit. I always try and sit within five rows of an exit on an aisle seat, he says. Once youre seated, count the rows to your nearest two exits in case it becomes too dark to see. Galea stresses, however, that planes are really quite safe.
One thing that does make him upset, however, is disaster movies. The latest to hit our screens is 2012, which Galea says makes him frustrated about how badly Hollywood gets it wrong.
Disaster films convey completely the wrong view of how most people behave in these kind of situations, he says. Hollywood shows people panicking, but my research shows that 9.9 times out of 10, people dont turn into crazed individuals, but behave quite rationally. They tend to help each other, too.
That, says Galea, is a crucial part of his job. The knowledge that most people react in a humanist way helps me to get in up in the morning I come to work knowing that people tend to behave in a supportive, helpful way in emergencies, so any way we can help inform intelligent building design and disaster strategies will help them to survive.
【重点单词及短语】
stuck in 陷入;插入
mathematical modelling 数学建模;数学模型;数学模拟
catastrophe n. 大灾难;大祸
simulate v. 模仿;假装;冒充
emergency evacuation 紧急疏散
intersection n. 十字路口;交集;交叉点;交叉
get it wrong 算错;误解
Question time:
1. Whats the contribution that pro. Ed Galea makes to people in emergencies?
2. Does pro. Ed Galea suppose Hollywood disaster movies helpful in guiding people get out of disasters?
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