Estimation of vertical displacement during ascending evacuation

This paper describes an ascending evacuation model based on physical work capacity, when exhaustion may play a key role during evacuation. The experiment was carried out on a stair machine (StairMaster, SM5, USA) which involved 13 male and 12 female subjects. Individual climbing speeds at 50 and 70 % of their maximal aerobic capacity (% VO2max) level (L1 and L2) were selected for 3 minutes, and 90 %, the last level (L3) was up to 5 minutes or until exhaustion for the model development on the first 19 subjects. The model was then validated on the last 6 subjects with intended exercise levels at their 60, 75 and 90 % of their maximal aerobic capacity corresponding up to 120, 15 and 5 minutes of continuous work, respectively. The maximum vertical displacement (hvert in m/min) can be calculated according to:
hvert = -21.7727+0.4024*VO2max+0.2658*% VO2max.