The impact of preschool children requiring adult assistance on evacuation efficiency

Preschool children, aged 3 to 6 years old, are a vulnerable group in emergencies due to their young age and limited self-protection abilities in kindergartens. Despite the critical role of kindergarten tutors in providing necessary aid and guidance, the adequacy of tutor-to-child ratios under increased assistance demands, and the efficacy of various evacuation guiding strategies, remain unexplored. This study modifies an agent-based model to simulate kindergarten evacuation, considering the proportion of children requiring assistance (ranging from 0 % to 100 %) and different guiding modes (instructing children in distinct regions: full circle, front semi-circle, and back semi-circle), with the aim of establishing ways to ensure effective evacuation. Through simulation, this study analyzes evacuation trajectories, evacuation time, flow, density distributions, and speed profiles to assess the impact of varying assistance needs and guiding strategies on evacuation efficiency. The findings reveal that an increase in the percentage of children needing assistance results in a gradual increase in evacuation time and a corresponding decrease in flow. Additionally, adopting the front semi-circle guiding mode speeds up evacuation compared to other guiding modes. These insights can provide valuable recommendations for kindergarten evacuation planning and crowd management for children. © 2024 Published by Elsevier B.V.