The thesis analyses evacuation times for elderly people with reduced mobility in nursing
homes. Because residents’ declining psychophysical abilities greatly complicate
independent evacuation in the event of a fire, it is crucial to understand accurately the
factors that affect the evacuation process.
In my thesis, I examined the impact of accommodation on different floors, the use of
mobility aids, and varying degrees of mobility impairment on the independent evacuation
of elderly people and on evacuation with the assistance of two nurses.
I analyzed evacuation times using the Pathfinder programme. Using it, I drew a fictitious
plan of nursing home, consistently taking into account the requirements of the Rules on
Minimum Technical Requirements for Social Care Providers. The nursing home had three
floors, interconnected by a protected staircase and evacuation lifts. Each floor represented
its own fire sector with a gross floor area of 562.1 m^2. The analysed fire sector in the
home measured 36.5 × 15.4 metres and contained two double rooms, four single rooms,
a nursing bathroom, a multi-purpose room with a kitchenette, and a storage room for
cleaning supplies and equipment.
I found that the evacuation time of elderly people with mobility impairments increases
with each floor, but not in a directly proportional way. The largest increase occurs when
moving from the ground floor to the first floor, while further increases in floor height no
longer make a significant contribution to evacuation time. In addition, the evacuation time
of elderly people with mobility impairments is slightly longer if they do not use their
mobility aids during evacuation. It also emerged that in almost all cases, elderly people
with mobility impairments evacuate more slowly than healthy people.
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