Evaluation on Egress Safety of Nursing Hospital Considering the Smoke Exhaust System

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the egress safety in nursing hospitals based on the capacity of the smoke exhaust system. To this end, the available safe egress time was calculated by analyzing changes in visibility, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen contents, and temperature depending on the fire duration. In addition, an egress simulation was performed using the number of workers (egress guides) and egress delay time as variables, and the required safe egress time was estimated. Based on the results, the egress safety of a prototype nursing hospital was evaluated. In this study, egress safety criteria to evaluate egress safety in a typical nursing hospital were presented, which are expressed in terms of normalized egress guides, the capacity ratio of the smoke exhaust system, and egress delay time. The proposed criteria can be used to evaluate the egress safety of typical nursing hospitals and to prepare complementary measures.