Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Planning for Evacuation

  • By Mark Roberts
  • 05/01/18

When it comes to evacuating facilities in the event of an emergency we need to be prepared for any eventuality in order to get everyone out safely. That is why emergency evacuation plans are vital. Extra precautions and considerations need to be taken in order to accommodate the individual needs of students, staff, and visitors with physical or sensory disabilities, and those who may lack understanding of a situation or the ability to act quickly.

Identifying and preventing risk is a crucial part of emergency planning and should never allow leaving anyone behind because they are differently abled. Pre-planning for an emergency is imperative. Campuses must have the capacity to move all persons with disabilities to a safe location immediately in any emergency.

Points to consider when planning:

  • Clearly visible evacuation procedures
  • Consider mobility-impaired and persons with sight/hearing impairment
  • Staff training in use of assistive equipment and procedures
  • Regular reviews, especially if the building has in any way been modified
  • Visitors will often be unfamiliar with the layout of your premises
  • Visitors share their needs upon entry

Develop a plan to necessitate provisions and share the information with all people concerned. Campus administration has a moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to keep their whole community safe in the event of an emergency.

Evacuation chairs provide a universal evacuation solution for smooth stairway descent during an emergency. Evacuation sleds are designed to help evacuate non-ambulant people or people who may not be able to walk down stairs in an emergency.

More information is available at webcpm.com.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management May 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Mark Roberts is vice president of Evac+Chair North America. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Tennessee Middle School Completes Health, Life Safety Renovations

    The Giles County Board of Education in Pulaski, Tenn., recently announced that a series of renovation projects has been completed at Bridgeforth Middle School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers and Brindley Construction to modernize building systems at one of the district’s oldest schools.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.