Evacuating people who need assistance

Every building has people who cannot use the stairs quickly, or at all, or who may not hear the alarm or understand what is happening. Some have permanent disabilities, such as people who use wheelchairs, people who are blind or have low vision, and people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Others have temporary conditions, such as a broken leg, late pregnancy or recovery from surgery. Some have conditions that are not visible, such as heart or lung disease, chronic fatigue, epilepsy, anxiety disorders or cognitive impairments, and visitors may need help that nobody knew about in advance. HSE-105 introduced the idea of assisted evacuation. This lesson goes into how wardens plan for it, what equipment and refuges are used, and how wardens handle the people who need help during a real alarm.

Planning comes first

Assisted evacuation cannot be improvised well. The time to find out that someone on the ninth floor uses a power wheelchair, that the evacuation chair is locked in a cupboard nobody can open, or that the only trained operators are on holiday, is before the alarm. Good plans identify people who may need help, agree with each person what help they need, assign and train helpers, provide equipment, and practise. The person who needs help is the expert on their own needs and should be part of the planning.

In Ontario, AODA's Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation, section 27, requires employers to provide individualized workplace emergency response information to employees with disabilities where the disability makes it necessary and the employer is aware of the need, and, with consent, to share it with designated helpers. Other provinces rely on human rights duties to accommodate and on fire code requirements that fire safety plans address occupants who need special assistance. A personal emergency evacuation plan, often called a PEEP, is the usual way to record this.

A PEEP should be short and practical. It records where the person usually works, what help they need to be alerted, which route and method they will use, who their buddies or helpers are, what equipment is needed, and any information the fire service should know. It must be reviewed when the person moves desks, when their needs change, when helpers leave, and after drills. Personal information should be kept confidential and limited to what helpers and the warden team need.

Visitors and people without a plan

Many people who need help will not have a PEEP: visitors, customers, contractors, and employees who have not told anyone. Buildings that receive the public should have a general emergency evacuation plan, sometimes called a GEEP, that covers how staff will find and help people they did not know about. Reception staff can ask visitors at sign-in whether they would need help in an evacuation. Wardens should look for people who seem to be struggling during the sweep and ask directly and respectfully, "Can I help you get out?"

Refuges and protected waiting areas

A person who cannot use the stairs can wait in a place where they are protected from fire and smoke while the main evacuation passes and helpers or firefighters come for them. The exact arrangements depend on the building.

Canadian building codes require that floor areas with a barrier-free path of travel, above or below the exit level, provide some form of protection for people who cannot use stairs, such as fire-separated areas, a horizontal exit to an adjacent floor area, or sprinkler protection with other measures, depending on the building and the code edition. Many buildings use a protected stair landing or a refuge area next to the stair. The fire safety plan should say where people wait, how they communicate their location, and how the fire department will be told.

A refuge is a waiting place, not a destination. Someone must know that a person is there, and someone must come for them. The plan must say who reports the person's location, how it gets to the chief warden and the fire service, and who will move them. In a working refuge, the buddy stays with the person if safe, the floor warden reports the location, and the chief warden tells the fire service on arrival with the exact floor and stair.

Methods of moving people

The safest method is the one the person agrees to and the helpers are trained for. Wardens should not attempt lifts and carries they have not practised, because dropping someone on a stair can cause serious injury to the person and to the helpers.

• Evacuation chairs are lightweight chairs with tracks or skids that let one or two trained operators take a seated person down stairs with control. They need to be stored near stairs, checked regularly and practised with.
• Evacuation elevators may be used only where the building and plan provide for it, usually under the control of the fire service or trained staff. Some newer buildings have occupant evacuation elevators designed for use during a fire.
• Horizontal movement through a fire separation to another compartment, common in hospitals and care homes, avoids stairs entirely.
• Carries without equipment, using two or more people, are a last resort when there is immediate danger and no other option.

Power wheelchairs are heavy and cannot be carried down stairs. A person who uses one will usually transfer to an evacuation chair and leave the power chair behind, which means losing their mobility at the assembly area; plans should consider how the chair will be recovered after the event and how the person will be supported in the meantime.

Alerting people who cannot hear the alarm

Strobe lights work only if the person can see one. People who are deaf or hard of hearing may be in washrooms, quiet rooms or stairwells without visual alarms, or may be asleep in residential buildings. Methods include visual alarms in all areas where people may be alone, vibrating pagers or phone alerts linked to the fire alarm, buddies who know to alert the person, and the warden's sweep. Text-based alerts on screens and phones help but should not be the only method, because phones may be silent, out of reach or out of signal.

Communicating during an evacuation

Good communication is part of assistance. Speak directly to the person, not to their companion. Ask what help they need rather than assuming. Explain what is happening and what you will do, especially to someone who is blind or has low vision. Offer your arm rather than pulling or pushing. For people with cognitive or mental health conditions, use short, calm instructions and allow a little more time. Never separate a person from their mobility aid or assistance animal unless they agree and it is unavoidable.

Helpers and buddies

A buddy is a colleague who agrees to help a specific person in an emergency, usually by alerting them, staying with them, or helping them reach a refuge. Buddy systems fail when the buddy is absent, so each person who needs help should have at least two buddies, and wardens should check on arrival at the start of the day or shift who is present. Buddies should not be expected to carry anyone or operate an evacuation chair unless they are trained. Buddies should also know what to do if they themselves cannot stay, for example because of smoke: report the person's exact location to the warden and leave.

After the evacuation

At the assembly area, people who needed help may need shelter, a place to sit, medication they left behind, or help to contact someone. A person whose wheelchair was left inside may be stranded. Wardens should report anyone still in a refuge to the chief warden and the fire service and keep reporting until they are confirmed out. After the event, the plan owner should talk with each person who needed help about how it went and update their PEEP.