Human-Centered Design of a Civilian Self-Rescue Breathing Apparatus for Early-Stage Structural Fires

Human-Centered Design of a Civilian Self-Rescue Breathing Apparatus for Early-Stage Structural Fires | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Human-Centered Design of a Civilian Self-Rescue Breathing Apparatus for Early-Stage Structural Fires Chao-Yuan Tseng, Mei-Juan Hsu, Chih-Hsuan Tung, Yi-Xuan Lin This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9274476/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study presents a human-centered design approach to the development of a civilian self-rescue breathing apparatus intended for use during early-stage structural fires. Civilian fire fatalities are predominantly caused by smoke inhalation rather than direct exposure to flames, particularly within the first minutes following fire ignition. Existing respiratory protection systems are either designed for trained firefighters or require operational complexity that exceeds the capability of untrained occupants. This research integrates ergonomic analysis, fireground behavior considerations, and system-level design constraints to propose a passive, misuse-tolerant breathing apparatus suitable for civilian use. Design requirements were derived from user capability analysis, fire toxicity characteristics, and evacuation behavior studies. The resulting device incorporates chemical oxygen generation based on potassium superoxide (KO₂) and layered smoke filtration within a compact form factor optimized for rapid deployment. Scenario-based design analysis and expert consultation during design development suggest that the proposed system offers meaningful extension of survivable escape time during early-stage fires. The findings highlight the importance of human-centered constraints in fire safety device design and contribute to the development of practical self-rescue technologies for civilian populations. Fire safety self-rescue breathing apparatus human-centered design ergonomics smoke inhalation civilian evacuation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9274476","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":618382820,"identity":"ef222333-2556-431d-8dd4-888d9810aea7","order_by":0,"name":"Chao-Yuan Tseng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDADfiBmBmLGBkIqeWAMyQZmmBZmIrUYHCBWiz3/4WMPvzDYJW6+3X9MuoDBRnbDAf5jEnhtkUhLN5ZhSE7cducwm/QMhjTjDQeY2Qho4TGTlmA4kLjtRjKbNA/D4USQlht4tfCf/wbWsnkGWMt/IrQw5LBJfgBq2SAB1nKACC030sykGQySjWfcSDa2ngFkzDzMbP4Dnxb2/sPPJH9U2Mn2z0h8eLsAyOg73vjYAJ8WEGDmMWBwbAAzQWoJRAsYMALdYU+EulEwCkbBKBipAAD/okL/bK07KQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"National Taipei University of Business","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chao-Yuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Tseng","suffix":""},{"id":618382821,"identity":"589ed276-25b5-4d73-9100-45c1de42268f","order_by":1,"name":"Mei-Juan Hsu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Taipei University of Business","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mei-Juan","middleName":"","lastName":"Hsu","suffix":""},{"id":618382822,"identity":"edc8e783-b073-4f74-b41b-336a2ca2ca6c","order_by":2,"name":"Chih-Hsuan Tung","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Taipei University of Business","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chih-Hsuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Tung","suffix":""},{"id":618382823,"identity":"c5194deb-a2b8-4421-8736-985cf47aff71","order_by":3,"name":"Yi-Xuan Lin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Taipei University of Business","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yi-Xuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Lin","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-31 04:53:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9274476/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9274476/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106403355,"identity":"2924b94d-4690-4da0-8f96-314becd29830","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-08 09:14:08","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":534102,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"HumanCenteredDesignofaCivilianSelfRescueBreathingApparatusforEarlyStageStructuralFiresManuscriptAnonymous.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9274476/v1_covered_f1ab0309-686b-47c0-bfe1-ef98fb8bd51f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Human-Centered Design of a Civilian Self-Rescue Breathing Apparatus for Early-Stage Structural Fires","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Fire safety, self-rescue breathing apparatus, human-centered design, ergonomics, smoke inhalation, civilian evacuation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9274476/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9274476/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This study presents a human-centered design approach to the development of a civilian self-rescue breathing apparatus intended for use during early-stage structural fires. 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