| 摘要: | 行政院國家發展委員會推估台灣於2018年邁入高齡社會，且出生率逐年降低，顯示對於長期照顧服務機構的需求將逐漸增加，而此類機構的居住人員多為老年人、行動不便者、需長期醫療照護者等避難弱者；火災發生時，因感知能力及避難行動能力不足而無法及時避難；因此相關機構的避難安全設計及相關規定須更妥善之規劃，如何提升相關既有機構的避難安全，已成為必須面對的課題。
本研究對北中南共九家案例進行調查，以了解合法之既有長照服務機構於防火避難安全設計上之現況及問題，分析防火避難安全設計上之優點及缺點，並提出改善建議。另為了解改善前後之效益，本研究提出輔助避難時間之計算方法，以計算結果分析各案例之改善效益，並探討硬體面之改善與避難時間之關係。為了解軟體面策略之輔助人數與輔助避難時間之關係，本研究計算不同輔助人數對其避難所需時間之差異，並利用簡易二層計算各類型居室之煙層下降時間，檢討人員離室避難之安全，並針對計算結果檢討各居室之最小自然排煙窗面積，以確保人員離室避難之安全。依據上述之計算結果，可了解相關機構於防火避難安全設計上之強度及推估適當之輔助人數，期透過硬體及軟體策略之檢討，有效提升相關機構之人員避難安全。
案例調查發現，相關機構於防火避難上之共通問題出現之頻率依序為：居室未考慮排煙設計、無設置等待救援空間、護理站未設置防煙垂壁、梯廳無設置區劃、居室構造未具30分鐘以上防火時效、未管理火災風險高的空間、僅設有一座安全梯，無法符合兩方向避難原則、整體平面無區劃、垂直送餐設備無遮煙設備、設有直通樓梯、避難路徑堆置雜物等。計算改善前後之時間差異結果顯示，整體平面是否設置區劃與居室是否為獨立區劃為影響火災初期避難所需時間長短的主因，案例於改善後避難時間最多可縮短95.6%，多數案例於改善後皆可有效提升其避難安全，亦顯示出其現況較不利人員避難安全。
增加輔助人數之計算結果顯示，人數增加可縮短避難所需時間。以最多輔助人數且無計算護理站到居室之情境時，各類型居室之離室避難時間不論面積大小皆約為42秒，但其避難所需時間仍較煙下降時間長。因此若居室未考慮排煙設計，即使為最多輔助避難人力之情境，多數機構仍無法全員完成避難。建議盡量增加輔助人員之人力，且居室應設置機械排煙設備或自然排煙窗等排煙設計，以減緩煙下降之時間。最後本研究檢討各居室應確保之最小自然排煙窗面積，其所需之排煙窗面積會因居室面積和床數有所不同，約為0.35m2～4.83 m2。
本研究以現況為合法之既有長期照顧服務機構為主要研究對象，檢討長照機構現況於防火避難設計上之問題並檢討改善策略，以提升既有長期照顧服務機構的防火避難安全為主要研究目的。研究結果除可提供既有機構檢視其火災安全時之參考依據，亦可供新設機構於設計規劃時之參考，以提昇其火災避難安全性，使國內之照護環境能夠更加妥善。
According to an estimate by the National Development Council, Executive Yuan, Taiwan will become an aged society by 2018, and, with the birth rate declining year by year, the demand for long-term care institutions will increase gradually in the future. However, residents at these institutions are mostly individuals disadvantaged in evacuations, including elderly persons, people with disabilities, and persons needing long-term medical care. When a fire breaks out, these individuals are unable to escape promptly due to their poor perception and mobility, and therefore, more suitable planning of fire safety designs for related institutions and relevant regulations are required. How to improve evacuation safety at existing institutions has become an issue that must be confronted.
In the study, nine such institutions across Taiwan were investigated to gain an understanding of the current fire safety design situations and problems for existing legal long-term care institutions, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of their fire safety designs and proposing suggestions for improvement. Additionally, in order to understand effectiveness before and after improvement, the study presented a method for calculating the time required for assisted evacuation, using the calculated results to analyze the effectiveness of improvements for the various cases as well as investigating the relationship between physical improvements and the time required for assisted evacuation. In order to understand the relationship between the number of assisting individuals (as a soft strategy) and the time required for assisted evacuation, the study calculated the differences in the time required for evacuation for varying numbers of assisting individuals and utilized a two-layer zone model to calculate the smoke layer descent time for various types of rooms to examine the safety of room evacuation for residents and staff members. Moreover, using the calculations, the study also looked at the smallest areas of natural ventilation through windows in various rooms, to ensure the safety of room evacuation for residents and staff members. Based on the above-mentioned calculations, the soundness of fire safety designs for related institutions could be understood and the appropriate number of assisting individuals could be estimated. It was hoped that, by examining physical and soft strategies, the safety of evacuation for residents and staff members at related institutions can be effectively increased.
Case investigations showed that the common fire safety and evacuation problems of related institutions included, in order of frequency, no smoke ventilation design for rooms, no rescue waiting space, no smoke barrier at nursing stations, no lobby area, room structures not being 30-minutes fire rated or better, high risk areas being left unmanaged, having only one fire escape, not conforming to the “bi-directional evacuation” principle, the lack of compartmentalization, the lack of anti-leakage devices for vertical meal-delivery equipment, being equipped with straight stairs, and escape routes being blocked with piles of miscellaneous articles. Results of the time difference before and after improvement showed that overall compartmentalization and independent compartmentalization of rooms are the main factors affecting the time required for evacuation early on. For the cases investigated, the time required for evacuation could be shortened by at the most 95.6% after improvement, and the majority of them were able to demonstrate an effective increase in evacuation safety after improvement, reflecting that the current situations of these cases are unfavorable for personnel evacuation.
Results of calculations for increased numbers of assisting individuals showed that an increase in the number of assisting individuals could shorten the time required for evacuation. For the scenario involving the highest number of assisting individuals and excluding the time to get from the nursing station to the room, the time required for room evacuation for the various types of rooms were all approximately 42 seconds regardless of room size – still longer than the smoke layer descent time. Therefore, if smoke ventilation designs were not considered for the rooms, the majority of these institutions still would not be able to evacuate all their residents and staff members in time even with the highest number of assisting individuals. It is suggested that the number of assisting individuals should be increased to as many people as possible and rooms should be equipped with smoke ventilation designs, such as mechanical smoke exhaust equipment and natural ventilation windows, to slow down the descent of the smoke layer. Finally, the study examined the smallest areas of natural ventilation windows required for various rooms, which would vary in the range of 0.35m2-4.83m2 depending on the room size and the number of beds.
Focusing primarily on existing legal long-term care institutions, the study intends to improve the fire and evacuation safety of existing long-term care institutions by investigating the problems in their fire safety and evacuation designs and by examining strategies for improvement. Besides serving as reference for existing institutions in their fire safety inspections, results of this study also can be taken as reference in design planning for new institutions in order to increase their fire evacuation safety, improving the caregiving environment in Taiwan. |
