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Participatory Action Research Methodology in Disaster Research: Results From the World Trade Center Evacuation Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2013

Robyn R.M. Gershon ,
Marcie S. Rubin ,
Kristine A. Qureshi ,
Allison N. Canton  and
Frederick J. Matzner
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Abstract

Objective: Participatory action research (PAR) methodology is an effective tool in identifying and implementing risk-reduction interventions. It has been used extensively in occupational health research, but not, to our knowledge, in disaster research. A PAR framework was incorporated into the World Trade Center evacuation study, which was designed to identify the individual, organizational, and structural (environmental) factors that affected evacuation from the World Trade Center Towers 1 and 2 on September 11, 2001. PAR teams—comprising World Trade Center evacuees, study investigators, and expert consultants—worked collaboratively to develop a set of recommendations designed to facilitate evacuation from high-rise office buildings and reduce risk of injury among evacuees.

Methods: Two PAR teams worked first separately and then collectively to identify data-driven strategies for improvement of high-rise building evacuation.

Results: The teams identified interventions targeting individual, organizational, and structural (environmental) barriers to safe and rapid evacuation.

Conclusions: PAR teams were effective in identifying numerous feasible and cost-effective strategies for improvement of high-rise emergency preparedness and evacuation. This approach may have utility in other workplace disaster prevention planning and response programs. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2008;2:142–149)

Keywords

evacuationparticipatory action research teamshigh-rise buildingsworkplace
Type
Original Research and Critical Analysis
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , October 2008 , pp. 142 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2008

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