EMERGENCIES AND EVACUATION FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON PLANNING OFFICE

October 1994
last update August 2002
This is an expansion of an outline and handout used in training at the University of Oregon. Non-commercial use is allowed. For questions, suggestions, or copyright issues, go to Fred Tepfer's web site to send him a message.


Outline of Subjects

1. Introduction to the issues: emergencies can occur anytime, anywhere

2. Survival chances increase dramatically with training and advance planning.

A. What the University can do (contact Environmental Health and Safety or University Planning for assistance and information)

  1. Provide training for safety staff.
  2. Provide training for you.
  3. Coordinate and promote sharing of information so that people with disabilities can receive help as quickly as possible.
  4. Identify and mark evacuation routes, exterior exits, and rescue areas (with signs and with evacuation route maps).

B. What you can do.

1. Self-identify to the University and to faculty, and encourage others to do so. Students can do so by notifying the Counselor for Students with Disabilities, 346-3211. Employees can self-identify by notifying the, Office of Human Resources, 346-2962. Individuals who wish to maintain maximum confidentiality can self-identify by notifying the Office of Affirmative Action, 346-2971.

2. Plan an emergency strategy when you first use a building.

3. Set up "buddy" arrangements for assistance from other employees, teachers or students.

General information about fires and other emergencies

FIRE

Most University buildings are very fire safe, and the University of Oregon enjoys an excellent fire safety record. Most University buildings with accessible upper floors provide built-in protection with fire sprinkler systems. Fire sprinklers spray water only in the area of the fire. This cools the fire, reduces smoke, and in many cases puts the fire out entirely.

Some of our buildings (Pacific, Klamath, Straub, Willamette, Chiles, and Huestis and others) have horizontal exits, which are either separations of each floor into separate fire-resistant compartments or else exits into connected buildings. In the event of a fire, occupants can exit horizontally into a protected area.

Horizontal Exiting Diagram

Under current accessibility codes, new buildings whose levels lack exits to ground level must either provide safe areas (called areas of rescue asssistance) if they lack fire sprinklers or horizontal exits. Although these requirements don't apply to exiting or remodeled buildings, they do set an example of how to provide emergency safety for people with disabilities. The University has some rescue areas, even in buildings where they might not be required in new construction.

The only major buildings at the University which completely lack sprinklers or horizontal exits on all accessible upper floors are:

For current information on extent of fire sprinklers, please contact Environmental Health and Safety.

Many corridors and stair wells have at least some fire resistance in their walls, ceilings, and doors. If a stair landing is large enough, it may be the safest place to wait for rescue, especially in a building lacking fire sprinklers or horzontal exits.

When a fire spreads through a building, smoke travels first horizontally along the ceiling, then vertically where openings to upper floor exist. Smoke passes through open doors, in through open windows, through duct work and through pipe chases. Smoke plus heat plus spark or flame creates fire. In a building which is filling with smoke, stay low, and keep doors closed.

Newer elevator systems will return to the ground level during a fire. Avoid being in or near elevators in a fire, as the vertical shaft can fill with smoke and carry it to other floor levels.

BOMB THREAT

Evacuation for a bomb threat is similar to evacuation for a fire, except that the elevator may still be working. If the elevator is working, use it. If not, proceed as you would in a fire evacuation.

WIND STORM

Stay inside, away from exterior doors and windows. Take refuge if possible in a room with no windows or in an interior corridor or in a basement. If the building must be evacuated, first try to contact OPS by phone to tell them where you are, then proceed in the same way as if there were a fire.

EARTHQUAKE

Although structural collapse in earthquakes is relatively rare, injury from non-structural items such as falling light fixtures and ceiling panels is more common.

Try to move to an area of safety such as in a door opening or under a table or desk. Avoid places near windows due to risk from breaking glass. Do not try to leave the building during a quake, as there is high risk from falling building parts. If you can't leave the building after the shaking stops, make contact with someone else in the building if at all possible. Try the phones or emergency call boxes to ask for assistance. If you can get to a marked rescue area, do so. If not, try to get to or near an enclosed exit stair. There is risk of fire after an earthquake, so plan your evacuation strategy accordingly.

The entire region may not receive help for some time after an earthquake, so keep an emergency kit in your dwelling, workplace, and possibly car. The USWEST phone directory has guidance on what to include in such a kit.

POWER OUTAGE OR ELEVATOR MALFUNCTION

If you are trapped in the building, contact OPS by phone if possible. If the phones aren't working, try to find another building occupant to notify OPS, who will provide evacuation assistance. To report an elevator malfunction during working hours (7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday), call Facilities Services at 62319. To report a malfunction at other times, call Public Safety at 6-5444. If you need the elevator to leave the building or to get to a class, emphasize that you have no options and are waiting for assistance.

PERSONAL SAFETY

Although this training will not cover this issue in detail, remember that many people with disabilities are at a higher risk from attack by others. Use basic common sense measures such as using well-frequented routes at night, staying with another reliable person or a group, and using escorts from Saferide or Public Safety if you feel threatened or unsafe. For more specific information, contact the Office of Public Safety at 6-5444.

SPECIFIC SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

RESTRICTED MOBILITY

Your risk is that you can't leave upper floors of a building, or that the exits that are accessible to you on a ground floor are blocked by fire or smoke or other hazard. Advance planning can decrease your risk enormously. The first task of fire fighters is to evacuate people from a building. Steps that you take to help them find you early and quickly simplify their job and increase your safety.

Survival strategy:

  1. Identify possible exits and safe areas IN ADVANCE. Take time when using a building the first time to find the exits and the stairwells.
  2. Set up "buddy systems" with at least two other people in all of your class or working environments if possible. These are people who will help you as they exit during an emergency (see #4, below).
  3. If you are in an individual office or dorm room on an upper floor during an emergency, first take time to close the door, then use the phone to call Public Safety at 6-6666 to tell them where you are. If you can't connect to Public Safety, call 911. After informing them of your location and your planned destination, proceed to the area that you identified in advance.
  4. Find someone to accompany you until you are outside the building or are waiting in a safe area on an upper floor. They can help with heavy doors or even single steps. If you need to wait in a safe area on an upper floor, this person will exit, then tell Public Safety or Eugene Fire Department where you are.
  5. Do not attempt to have non-professionals carry you out of the building except as a last resort.

HEARING DISABILITIES

People with hearing impairments may not be aware of fire alarms. This doesn't present a great risk in a group situation such as a classroom, as you will see everyone else leaving. In individual offices, libraries, research laboratories, and other isolated areas, check in advance for the presence of strobe fire alarms and maintain an awareness of other building users. Try to make sure that others in your environment are aware of your risk and the need to tell you that alarm bells are ringing.

Survival strategy:

  1. Identify exits IN ADVANCE. You may have less warning than others, so it is even more important that you know how to exit the building.
  2. Ensure that your presence is known when you use facilities such as libraries, and that staff are aware of your risk.
  3. Request IN ADVANCE that strobe alarms and/or vibration devices be installed in your office, dorm room, or any other space assigned to you. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THESE DEVICES BE CONNECTED TO THE CENTRAL ALARM SYSTEM. In the case of sleeping rooms it is wise to also request supplementary local strobe or vibratory smoke detectors. These will detect fires that originate in your room, and possibly save your life if you are asleep.

IMPAIRED VISION OR BLIND

Your greatest risk is that you can't find the exits. In an emergency, auditory cues will be masked by alarm bells, olifactory cues masked by smoke, etc. Your survival strategies are:

  1. Identify exit locations (at least two per floor) IN ADVANCE.
  2. Ask for help when the alarms sound. If you are in a group, ask someone to walk with you to the nearest exit.
  3. If you can't find anyone to help, find an enclosed stairwell. Nearly all corridors end in a stairwell or an exit.
  4. If you can't find help or a stairwell, find an open room room, close the door (to keep out the smoke), and find a phone to call for help.

LEARNING DISABILITIES, SEIZURES, ETC.

Your risks may stem from disorientation, slow communication, confusion, seizure, or other neurological impairment. In your case, advance planning is particularly important. If you are subject to seizures or stress problems, these problems can be accentuated in an emergency.

Survival strategy:

  1. Identify exits (at least two per floor) IN ADVANCE.
  2. Practice finding and using these exits regularly.
  3. Arrange for help before an emergency occurs.
  4. In an emergency, have someone accompany you as you exit.