Quantification of the movement characteristics for the elderly assisted by the young through exit
Problem & Motivation
1. As the elderly population increasing dramatically, the movement and safety of elderly pedestrians have become a worldwide concern. For they are vulnerable are easy to fall which can lead tostampede disasters in the crowd under high density. The elderly, as a vulnerable group with lower reaction speed and movement ability, usually need assistance from others in transportation and evacuation.
2. Helping or assisting in the pre-evacuation and egress phases increases the chances of survival of the mobility impaired individuals but delays the effective evacuation. The behave characteristics of the young supporting the elderly needs to be investigated which can be help in the crowd management under emergency.
Methods
1. Experiments of elderly pedestrians passing through exits under the assistance of the young are carried out. The spatial distance, spatial angle and group speeds were analyzed. When walking in the room, the elderly and young in one assistant group have synergetic movement angles and speeds. When approaching the exit, the assistant group compresses its spatial distance (SD: from 0.465 m to 0.408 m). To give priority to the old through the exit, the young adjust their movement angles more dramatically and make sacrifices in speeds. It shows that the young have larger movement angles and lower speeds than the elderly.
2. There are significant differences between the supporting by right hand and left hand. 78% of the young chose the left side of the old to give support and 22% chose the right one which has manifest influences on the movement characteristics of the assistant group. When the young use the right hand as the dominant one to assist the old, they stand on the left rear of the old with the mean spatial angle is 95.63◦ to provide support forces. When the left hand is the dominant one, the young stand slightly ahead of the old with the mean spatial angle is 279.69◦ to guide the movement direction and speed for the old.
Related Publication
Ren, X., Zhang, J., Xia, L., & Song, W. (2021). Quantification of the movement characteristics for the elderly assisted by the young through exit. Safety science, 140, 105293
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