  Collective behavior of people in large groups and emergent crowd dynamics can
have dangerous and disastrous results when panic is introduced. These events
can be caused by emergency situations such as fires in a large building or a
stampeding effect when people are rushing in a densely packed area. In this
paper, we will use an agent-based modeling approach to simulate different
evacuation events in an attempt to understand what is the most efficient
scenario. Specifically, we will focus on how people with disabilities are
impacted by chosen parameters during an emergency evacuation. We chose an ABM
to simulate this because we want to specify specific roles for different
"agents" in our model. Specifically, we will focus on the influence of people
with disabilities on crowd dynamics and the optimal exits. Does the placement
of seating for people with disabilities affect the time it takes for the last
person to exit the building? What effect does poor signage have on the time it
takes for able-bodied and people with disabilities to exit safely? What happens
if some people do not know about alternative exits in their panicked state?
Using our agent-based model, we will investigate these questions while also
adjusting other outside effects such as the density of the crowd, the speed at
which people exit, and the location of people at the start of the simulation.
