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THE European Commission is funding a three-year research project to examine the impact of cultural and ethnic influences on human behaviour in emergencies.
Initially set up in May 2008, the Behaviour, Security and Culture (BeSeCu) project is being taken forward by a consortium of eight partners. It aims to provide an evidence base that can be used by building designers, first responders agencies and others to develop ‘culturally appropriate’ emergency procedures for buildings.
The retrospective study will focus on seven European countries with diverse cultural backgrounds. It will include a survey of people – both members of the public and first responders – who have experienced emergency evacuations or survived fires and other crisis situations, as well as experimental trials simulating real-time evacuation scenarios.
Results will be analysed to identify the similarities and differences between cultures and ethnic groups, as well as socioeconomic factors.
The consortium says that the project will help to better tailor life safety related communication, instructions and procedures, with a view to improving evacuation and protection systems.
Partners involved in the study include: the University of Greenwich, the Institute of Public Security of Catalunya, the Hamburg Fire and Emergency Service Academy, the Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw, the University of Prague’s Psychiatric Centre, and the Association of Emergency Ambulance Physicians in Turkey.
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