Emergency response in complex buildings: Automated selection of safest and balanced routes

The extreme importance of emergency response in complex buildings during natural and human-induced disasters has been widely acknowledged. In particular, there is a need for efficient algorithms for finding safest evacuation routes, which would take into account the 3-D structure of buildings, their relevant semantics, and the nature and shape of hazards. In this article, we propose algorithms for safest routes and balanced routes in buildings, where an extreme event with many epicenters is occurring. In a balanced route, a trade-off between route length and hazard proximity is made. The algorithms are based on a novel approach that integrates a multiattribute decision-making technique, Dijkstra's classical algorithm and the introduced hazard proximity numbers, hazard propagation coefficient and proximity index for a route.