title: Civilians under fire: evacuation behaviour in north Israel during the Second Lebanon War.
abstract: This paper seeks to understand evacuation behaviour in a case of spontaneous evacuation. During the Second Lebanon War of 2006, more than one-third of residents in north Israel spontaneously evacuated--the remainder stayed in situ. Using a telephone survey of 665 respondents residing in north Israel, we were able to characterise the behaviour of evacuees and non-evacuees. The main reasons cited for evacuating were fear of injury to self or family, the effect on children, inability to remain in a protective space, and family pressure. The main reasons cited for remaining at home were no suitable alternative, did not perceive a high level of danger, had to go to work, and there is no place like home. There were no significant differences with regard to most socio-demographic characteristics of the population. These findings should aid emergency managers in preparing the population for a future emergency and in engaging in effective dialogue with the population during an emergency on the evacuation option.
authors.affiliation: Israel National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Israel.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gidron
authors.forename: Kobi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Peleg
authors.forename: Dena
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.forename: Gili
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shenhar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007557:Israel; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014857:Warfare; D055815:Young Adult