Simone Sillem

Alarming the Population Using SMS

Alarming a community in case of an emergency is not always perfect, as recent incidents in the Netherlands have shown. The audibility of the current siren is too low, especially for people indoors, and the public often does not know how to behave in an emergency situation. This paper describes the evaluation study of a project that investigates the possibilities of using Short Message Services (SMS) as an addition to the siren. The study describes a pilot project in the Netherlands, where an SMS service was used to inform and give instructions to the population of the city of Vlaardingen in case of an emergency. The pilot study has been carried out in the first half of 2004. The objective of this pilot study was to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the service. At this moment (April 2004) the pilot study is still ongoing. This paper presents the first results of this pilot.Copyright

Human Behavior in Evacuating a Building: A Problem Definition

There are different phases in which attempts can be made to prevent an emergency situation from happening or to fight its consequences when it does occur. These phases describe all activities that are aimed at increasing safety and can be represented schematically. This representation is called the safety chain. This paper looks at the phases of the safety chain where human behavior in evacuation can be influenced to mitigate the outcomes of an occurring emergency situation. A literature research has been done and the problems with human behavior are identified. Possibilities for further research are given, as well as the contours of a research project that will be carried out by the end of this year at Delft University of Technology.Copyright