Emergency Evacuation for Individuals with Disabilities

All individuals with disabilities at UNC must prepare for emergencies ahead of time.  Prior planning and practicing of emergency evacuation routes are important in assuring a safe evacuation. 

General Guidelines

  • Remember that individuals with similar disabilities are unique.  Through brief communication and asking questions, evacuation can be quick and safe.
  • Listen to the individual; he/she is the expert regarding his/her own disability. 
  • Always ask the individual how you can help before attempting any rescue technique or giving assistance. 
  • Ask the individual if there are any special considerations or items that need to come with the individual.
  •  Remember there are individuals with "hidden" disabilities that may need assistance: health, psychiatric disabilities (anxiety disorders, depression, bi-polar, personality disorders, etc.), some vision or hearing impairments.
  • Some individuals may utilize service animals: guide dogs, hearing dogs, or assistance animals.  When possible, keep the team together.

As an individual with a disability you must:

  • Identify yourself as having a disability.
  • Get involved with the evacuation planning process.  You are the expert on your own disability.
  • Discuss with Residence Hall staff/Faculty/Employer your abilities and needs as an individual with a disability in regards to evacuation (i.e. use a wheelchair, cannot walk unassisted, cannot hear alarm, cannot see, etc.)
  • Use the "buddy system" for evacuation procedures, (i.e., to assist you to the most appropriate exit route or the nearest area of rescue.)  Establish your "buddies" in each setting.  "Buddies" could be co-workers, supervisors, faculty, classmates, or roommates.

If unable to evacuate, ask your buddy to notify emergency responders of your exact location within the building. 

  • Know the safest method of lifting yourself from your wheelchair and proper carrying techniques.  If you do not know, ask your medical professional.  Only professionally trained individuals should attempt to lift you, unless you are in immediate danger.
  • Determine the best evacuation option. 

Guidelines for Specific Disabilities 

Blindness or Low Vision:

Even though most individuals who have visual impairments will be familiar with their immediate work/living areas, it is necessary to: 

  • Explain the nature of the emergency.
  • Give verbal instructions to advise about the safest route or direction (using compass directions, estimated distances, and directional terms). 
  • Offer to guide the individual, especially if there is debris or a crowd; do not grasp the individuals arm, without asking if he/she needs assistance.
  • Give other verbal instructions or information (i.e., elevators cannot be used).

Deafness, Hearing Loss, and/or Speech Impairments:

Communication varies with individuals who are Deaf, hard of hearing or with speech impairments.  Audible alarms may not be heard by individuals with hearing impairments.

  • Get the attention of a person with a hearing disability by turning the light on and off, tapping the individual on the shoulder, waving your hands, or eye contact.
  • Clearly state the problem; face the individual, for those who read lips.  Gestures and pointing are helpful; be prepared to write a brief, concise statement if the person does not understand.
  • Offer visual instructions to advise of safest route or direction by pointing toward exits or evacuation maps.

Example: FIRE - Go out the rear door to the right and down.  Leave NOW!

Mobility Impairment:
 Individuals with mobility impairments may or may not use wheelchairs. 

  • REMEMBER:  DO NOT USE THE ELEVATORS IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.
  • It may be necessary to help clear the exit route of debris (if possible) so that the person with a disability can move out or to a safer area.
  • If individuals with mobility impairments cannot exit, they should move to a safer area (e.g., most enclosed stairwells).  A secondary option is to move to an office which is a good distance from the hazard (and away from failing debris in the case of earthquakes).  Keep the door shut! 
  • Notify police or fire personnel immediately about any individuals remaining in the building, their locations, and conditions.
  • If individuals are in immediate danger and cannot be moved to a safer area to wait for assistance, it may be necessary to evacuate them using an evacuation chair or a carry technique.  Ask the individual for the safest method for lifting/carrying.

If the individual is in immediate danger, it may be necessary to leave the wheelchair.  Do not attempt the carry an individual in an electric wheelchair.

Responsibility of the University:

  • Establish areas of rescue on every floor within every building.
  • Identify areas of rescue within the building by signs, maps and information distributed.
  • Identify the areas of rescue on maps provided to emergency personnel.
  • Identify areas of rescue phone numbers and inspect signs, telephone numbers validity, and continued safe access and conditions for areas of rescue and location.

Areas of rescue: 

  • Phone - maintained and checked periodically.
  • Close proximity to escape routes.
  • Unobstructed egress/access.
  • Where possible, provided with opening windows.
  • Where applicable, use rooms constructed to be safe havens (encapsulated rooms) in structurally sound locations.

Evacuation Options:

Everyone must try to evacuate to the nearest, safest exit.  Individuals with disabilities have four basic options.

  • Horizontal evacuation:  using building exits to the outside ground level or going into unaffected wings of multi-building complexes.
  • Stairway (vertical) evacuation:  using stairwells, if possible, to reach ground level exits from the building.
  • Stay in Place:  unless danger is imminent, remaining in a room with an exterior window, a telephone, and a solid or fire resistant door.  With this approach, the person may keep in contact with emergency services by dialing 911 and reporting his or her location directly.  The University police will immediately relay this location to on-site emergency personnel, who will determine the necessity for evacuation.  Phone lines are expected to remain in service during most building emergencies.  If the phone lines fail, the individual can signal from the window by waving a cloth or other visible object.

The Stay-in-Place approach may be more appropriate for sprinkler protected buildings or building where an area of refuge is not nearby or available.  It may also be more appropriate for an occupant who is alone when the alarm sounds.  A label on the jamb or frame can identify a fire resistant door. Non-labeled 1 3/4 inch thick solid core wood doors hung on a metal frame also offer good fire resistance.

Area of refuge: with an evacuation assistant, going to an area of refuge away from obvious danger.  The evacuation assistant will then go to the building evacuation assembly point and notify the on-site emergency personnel of the location of the person with a disability.  Emergency personnel will determine if further evacuation is necessary. 

Usually, the safest area of refuge are stair enclosures common to high-rise buildings, and open air exit balconies.  Other possible areas of refuge include: fire rated corridors or vestibules adjacent to exit stairs, and elevator lobbies.  Many campus building feature fire rated corridor construction that may offer safe refuge.  Taking a position in a rated corridor next to the stairs is a good alternative to a small stair landing crowded with the other building occupants using the stairway.

Adapted from the websites of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Arizona State University, University of Berkeley