Grasping emergency dynamics: A review of group evacuation techniques and strategies in major emergencies

Abstract

Major sudden disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, and fires, often cause significant casualties. Emergency evacuation is crucial in mitigating these impacts. Different types of disaster incidents vary significantly in terms of impact scope, suddenness, and urgency. Each type of disaster possesses distinct characteristics, necessitating varying requirements for emergency evacuation. Consequently, we conducted a bibliometric analysis and visual mapping of evacuation processes in major natural disasters from 2004-2023, analyzing 7213 publications from the Web of Science database via VOSviewer and ArcGIS. Our study identified three developmental phases: an initial phase (pre-2011) with 1169 publications, a growth phase (2012-2018) with 2772 publications, and an expansion phase (post-2019) with 3335 publications. This study provides a comprehensive review and classification of emergency evacuation theories and methods in major disaster scenarios. It emphasizes the necessity of assessing the scope and intensity of different types of major emergent disasters, defining and simulating the affected behaviors of the influenced populations, and formulating differentiated emergency evacuation strategies accordingly. Keyword analysis reveals two main trends supporting these findings: an increasing focus on complex evacuation modeling and simulation techniques, manifested in the application of various simulation-optimized microscopic and macroscopic models such as cellular automata, social force models, agent-based models, pedestrian flow, and network flow models, enhancing disaster understanding and prediction capabilities; and the strategic development of tailored evacuation strategies for specific disaster contexts, thereby improving disaster response efficiency. Three key future pathways for safety evacuation research are outlined: refining evacuation behavior models for greater accuracy, improving the coordination of complex, multi-level evacuation procedures, and integrating indoor and outdoor evacuation strategies more seamlessly. It establishes a forward-looking framework for advancing safety evacuation studies in major emergencies.