In this work we present a series of results, both numerical and experimental, about several aspects  related to pedestrian evacuation processes. In particular, we show that the mean exit time  may not  provide an accurate characterization of an evacuating scenario and that an assessment of the  fluctuations that occur during such process might provide a more sensitive and valuable information.
For this reason, we suggest a simple way to partially assess the extent of information derived from  these fluctuations on the basis of the statistical characterization of the time gaps between  successive escapes through a door. We complement these results with other studies pointing to  further characterize the whole process.