Behavior of Mobility-Disabled People in Earthquakes: A Simulation Experiment

Disabled people are considered a high risk group in earthquake emergencies. A simulation experiment was conducted to assess the behavior of disabled occupants in earthquakes. A living room was set-up to show the after-effects of two simulated California earthquakes (low intensity R4.0 and high intensity R6.5) to a building's contents. Seventy-two participants were selected: 24 users of manual wheelchairs, 24 users of powered wheelchairs, and 24 able-bodied persons as a comparison base-line. Participants' movements were video taped and later analyzed based on a number of task performance measures. It was found that the users of manual wheelchairs performed the instructed tasks significantly faster than the users of powered wheelchairs under both low and high intensity simulations. Using a pathway analysis, the disabled groups faced a significantly greater number of obstacles and maneuvered around the objects more than the control group only in the high intensity damage scenario. The users of powered wheelchairs were forced to seek alternate escape routes and found it very difficult to maneuver around especially to carry an emergency bag while exiting (a success rate of 23%). The feasibility and weaknesses of this type of experimental approach is elaborated.