title: The World Trade Center bombing: injury prevention strategies for high-rise building fires.
abstract: The WTC disaster provided an opportunity to look for ways to prevent morbidity among occupants of high-rise buildings during fires. This paper first describes the overall morbidity resulting from the explosion and fire, and second, presents the results of a case-control study carried out to identify risk factors for smoke-related morbidity. The main ones include: increased age, presence of a pre-existing cardio-pulmonary condition, entrapment in a lift and prolonged evacuation time. Study results point to the importance of the following safety systems during high-rise building fires: smoke-control systems with separate emergency power sources; lift-cars, lift-car position-monitoring systems, and lift-car communication systems with separate emergency power sources; two-way emergency communication systems on all floors and in stairwells; stairwells with emergency lighting and designed for the rapid egress of crowds; evacuation systems/equipment to assist in the evacuation of vulnerable people (elderly, infirm). Also important are evacuation plans that include regularly scheduled safety training and evacuation drills.
authors.affiliation: New York City Department of Health, USA.
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Quenemoen
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malilay
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sinks
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Noji
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klitzman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002028:Building Codes; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004189:Disaster Planning; D005107:Explosions; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012066:Relief Work; D015208:Smoke Inhalation Injury / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data