Seeking Shelter: Towards a Multi-Agent Based Simulation of a School Lockdown Scenario

Abstract

The goal of a school lockdown is to isolate occupants from a threat by temporarily locking them inside the school building and away from harm. The research in this paper is motivated by the desire to encourage and contribute to the longer-term development of credible simulations of school lockdown scenarios. This paper focuses on the initial goal of the participants in a lockdown: to seek shelter within the facility, rather than evacuating. This study was conducted with a small group of volunteer participants in a school setting. The data collected through video observation and analysis provides insights into the modeling of occupant movements as they receive the lockdown notification, and seek appropriate shelter. This paper describes 10 significant patterns observed as students in a hallway seek shelter, including "Nearest Door Forward, " "Collaboration, " "Sheltering With Others, " and "Going With The Flow".