Transcript Full PowerPoint Presentation

Fire Safety
For Wheelchair Users
At Home & At Work
Presented By:
United Spinal Association
www.unitedspinal.org
Funding Assistance Provided by:
The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation
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Funding Assistance Provided By:
THE CRAIG H. NEILSEN FOUNDATION
www.chnfoundation.org
The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation is dedicated to
supporting research and innovative rehabilitation
programs to improve the quality of life for those with
a spinal cord injury (SCI). Along with supporting
researchers in the field of spinal cord injuries, the
Foundation also offers grants to qualifying non-profit
§501(c)(3) organizations that assist people living with
a spinal cord injury.
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For technical assistance, please contact:
Jennifer Perry
Compliance Specialist
Accessibility Services
United Spinal Association
[email protected]
800.404.2898 #7504 – Phone
www.accessibility-services.com
www.unitedspinal.org
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Mission Statement:
United Spinal Association is dedicated to improving the
quality of life for Americans with spinal cord injuries and
disorders.
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United Spinal Association
• Private, National Not for Profit Organization
• Established in 1946 as Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association
• All members have a spinal cord injury or disease
• Name changed in January, 2004 to United Spinal Association
Headquarters:
Jackson Heights, NY
Regional Offices:
Philadelphia, Buffalo, Naples, FL & Washington DC
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Accessibility Services –
A Program of United Spinal
Association
• Accessibility Training Programs
• Plan Review Services
• Consulting
• Site Assessments & Reporting
• 3rd Party Inspectors
www.accessibility-services.com
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Training Goals:
1.) Review the features of building code life/fire
safety requirements for newly constructed buildings
and facilities that affect people with mobility
impairments..
2.) Review the evacuation protocols from the
workplace and home for wheelchair users
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Why Learn About Fire Safety for Wheelchair
Users?
A May, 2009 study from the Christopher and Dana Reeve
Foundation found that 5.6 million Americans are paralyzed [1]
(defined as a central nervous system disorder resulting in
difficulty or inability to move upper or lower extremities.)
Additionally, 1.275 million of paralyzed Americans have a
spinal cord injury.
[1] Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation,
Report on the prevalence of spinal cord injury and paralysis in the United States
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Why Learn About Fire Safety for
Wheelchair Users?
Given that approximately 40% of persons with paraplegia
and 30% of persons with quadriplegia eventually return to
work and 87.9% of all persons with SCI who are
discharged from rehabilitation programs are sent to a
private, non-institutional residence (in most cases their
homes before injury)[2] it becomes even more evident that
education on fire safety for people with SCI at both home
and work is necessary given this population’s unique
evacuation needs in the event of an emergency.
[2] National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center,
619 19TH Street South - SRC 529, Birmingham, AL 35249-7330
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Why Learn About Fire Safety for
Wheelchair Users?
• While disasters and emergencies affect everyone, their
impact on people with disabilities is often compounded by
several factors, which necessitates the need for emergency
planning prior to such a disaster or emergency.
• Given the national tragedies in our recent past, including
the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina,
the special needs of people with disabilities in emergency
evacuation situations, particularly those with SCI, has
become an issue that all individuals must become familiar
with.
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Why Learn About Fire Safety for
Wheelchair Users?
• Unfortunately, despite the statistics on the growing number
of people with disabilities living and working independently
throughout the United States, many employers, fire/code
officials, municipal managers and people with disabilities
themselves, are still unaware of the steps that should be
taken to ensure the safety of people with disabilities in
emergency situations.
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Why Learn About Fire Safety for
Wheelchair Users?
• Of particular concern for people with SCI is the proper use
of areas of refuge, wide exit stairs, means of egress
elevators and exterior areas of assisted rescue, all of which
are required by the International Building Code (IBC),
which is referenced in many jurisdictions nationwide.
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ICC International Code (ICC)
Adoptions – February, 2010
One or more International Codes®
currently used statewide
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What the Law Says
Because there are no federal guidelines requiring disaster or
evacuation plans, many people are unclear about exactly
whose responsibility this is.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) does not
require formal emergency plans. But ADA’s Titles I, II and III
do require that employers, public services, and public
accommodations and services operated by private entities,
modify their policies and procedures to include people with
disabilities.
• Therefore, when evacuation plans are created or revised they
need to include people with disabilities and activity limitations.
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In other words…
• People with disabilities, building owners and
managers, fire safety personnel and anyone else
involved with the development of evacuation planning,
is responsible for ensuring that the needs of people
with disabilities are understood and addressed should
an emergency situation arise.
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Applicable Building Code
Requirements
• International Building Code (IBC)
• NFPA 5000
• Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines
(ADAAG)
• Revised ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines
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Elements of Accessible Means of
Egress – Key Definitions
• Exit access – all elements of an interior accessible route
• Exit – areas of refuge, enclosed stairways, elevators, horizontal
exits, exit doors
• Exit discharge – exterior accessible route
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• United Spinal Association has worked to ensure that new state
and model building codes integrate specific requirements to
improve the life safety afforded to mobility-impaired persons
in newly constructed buildings.
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The Building Code and Evacuation Planning
• Generally, accessible spaces shall be provided with not less
than one accessible means of egress. Where more than one
means of egress is required from any accessible space, each
accessible portion of the space shall be served by not less
than two accessible means of egress.
Exception:
Accessible means of egress are not required in alterations to
existing buildings.
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Protection
• Areas of refuge
• Horizontal exits
• “Protect in Place”
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Key features of the International Building Code (IBC)
Chapter 10 Accessible Means of Egress requirements that
affect people with mobility impairments and should be
considered when developing an evacuation plan are as
follows:
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The Building Code and Evacuation
Planning
Areas of Refuge
Areas of Refuge are fire rated safe havens on a building’s
upper and below-grade floors designed for persons with
mobility impairments to await further evacuation from the
responding fire company.
These areas can be provided in stair landings, elevator
lobbies or an area that is properly fire-rated, and provides
two-way emergency communication so that a wheelchair
user can alert authorities to his or her location.
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Area of Refuge
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Areas of Refuge Location
• On accessible route,
• Direct access to a means of egress stairway or
elevator, and
• Separated from remainder of story by a smoke
barrier
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Areas of Refuge: Exceptions for Smoke
Barrier
• Area located within stairway enclosure
• Area of refuge and the building space it serves is
equipped with an automatic sprinkler system
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Areas of Refuge: Other Requirements
• Provide one 30”x48” wheelchair space for every 200
occupants served by the area of refuge
• Wheelchair spaces shall not overlap required exit width
• Two-way communication
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Space to accommodate a single wheelchair
and its occupant – Area of Refuge
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Travel Distance
• General means of egress travel distance requirements
apply for areas of refuge.
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Accessible Means of Egress Signs
• Areas of refuge identified
• Instructions within areas of refuge
• Signs at inaccessible exits
• Braille and raised letters at all exit stairway enclosure
entrances
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Identification
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Instructions and Communication
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Evacuation
• Elevators equipped with standby power and firefighter
service (ASME A17.1)
• Evacuation stairs (48” clearance between handrails, 7”
treads, 11” min. riser)
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The Building Code and
Evacuation Planning
• Means of Egress Elevators
Elevators with stand-by power in addition to the fire service
required of all elevators. The stand-by power enables fire
fighters to travel to persons with mobility impairments on the
upper or below-grade levels of a building and to evacuate them
to the outdoors, even when a building’s normal electrical
service is lost. These elevators are not intended to be used
independently by people with mobility impairments in the
event of an emergency.
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The Building Code and Evacuation
Planning
Means of Egress elevators are typically required in
buildings with 5 or more stories.
There are exceptions for buildings equipped throughout
with automatic sprinkler systems on floors provided with
a horizontal exit and located at or above the level of exit
discharge and;
The elevator shall not be required on floors provided with
a ramp when the building is fully sprinklered.
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Platform Lifts
• Platform (wheelchair) lifts shall not serve as part of an
accessible means of egress, except where they are
allowed to provide an accessible route to certain areas.
Platform lifts shall be installed in accordance with ASME
A17.1.
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Vertical Platform Lift
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Incline Platform Lift
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Stairway chair lifts are
never permitted as part of
a required accessible route.
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The Building Code and Evacuation
Planning
Wide Exit Stairs: Required to provide 48 inches between
handrails so that three fire fighters will have enough room to
carry a wheelchair user from a landing to safety.
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The Building Code and Evacuation
Planning
• Exterior Areas of Assisted Rescue
Exterior Areas of Assisted Rescue are protected areas outside
the exit doors of buildings designed to provide a safe area for
persons with mobility impairments when the terrain or grade
surrounding a building can’t be easily ramped to provide a safe
route to a public area away from the building.
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Suppression
• Before 9-11 there was no history in the United States of
multi-fatality fires in buildings fully protected by
operational, supervised automatic sprinkler systems.
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Evacuation Planning
By understanding their special evacuation needs, first responders
can improve the chances of evacuating people with mobility
impairments safely.
• Remember - There is no such thing as a “typical” or “model”
evacuation plan for people with disabilities.
• “Boiler-plate” plans are worthless, as they do not take into
account the unique circumstances of each facility and each
person. Make sure your site is not using a boiler-plate disaster
plan.
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Evacuation Planning
• Each building and sometimes building area (in large
buildings) is unique and should have its own plan.
• The main goal is to get persons with mobility
impairments to a “safe area” until the fire department
arrives.
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Evacuation Planning Stakeholders
• Fire, safety, and building code officials
• Emergency plan coordinators
• Building owners and managers
• Employers and supervisors
• People with disabilities
• Office fire marshals
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IMPORTANT!
• The primary objective of an emergency evacuation plan
is the protection from injury and preservation of human
life.
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International Fire Code
• The International Fire Code requires FIRE SAFETY
AND EVACUATION PLANS for most buildings open to
the public, including: large malls, education &
institutional occupancies, multi-family residential
buildings, places of assembly, hospitals, colleges and
businesses, to name a few.
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International Fire Code
• Fire evacuation plans shall include the following:
1. Emergency egress or escape routes and whether evacuation
of the building is to be complete or, where approved, by
selected floors or areas only.
2. Procedures for employees who must remain to operate
critical equipment before evacuating.
3. Procedures for accounting for employees and occupants
after evacuation has been completed.
4. Identification and assignment of personnel responsible for
rescue or emergency medical aid.
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5. The preferred and any alternative means of notifying
occupants of a fire or emergency.
6. The preferred and any alternative means of reporting fires
and other emergencies to the fire department or designated
emergency response organization.
7. Identification and assignment of personnel who can be
contacted for further information or explanation of duties
under the plan.
8. A description of the emergency voice/alarm communication
system alert tone and preprogrammed voice messages,
where provided.
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International Fire Code
Fire safety and evacuation plans shall be reviewed or updated
annually or as necessitated by changes in staff assignments,
occupancy, or the physical arrangement of the building.
Fire safety and evacuation plans shall be available in the
workplace for reference and review by employees, and copies
shall be furnished to the fire code official for review upon
request.
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Evacuation Plan Protocols and Procedures
Establish a relationship with the fire department or other
first responders that would respond to your home or
business in the event of a fire or other emergency. The
relationship should include:
•Developing an evacuation plan with the fire department.
•Reviewing the plan with the fire department at least once a
year.
•Practicing the evacuation plan throughout the year.
Employers, in turn, should review evacuation plans annually,
and practice and evaluate them regularly. Even a brief
discussion during a staff meeting can help to remind everyone
what he or she needs to do. Ultimately, a solid level of
preparedness should become part of the fabric of the facility.
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Evacuation Planning
• Know the locations of your usable exits on the grade level of
the building and how to get to them.
• Once outside, determine if a wheelchair user can get to a
“public way” that is a safe distance away from the building
and identify a safe meeting place.
• A protected area for people with mobility impairments outside
the exit door may be feasible.
• In many buildings, even exits on the grade level of the building
are elevated above the adjoining grade. In these instances,
landings beyond the exit door should be reviewed to determine
if they are adequate to accommodate a wheelchair user. Simply
measure the landing. The clear floor space needed for a
wheelchair user is 30 inches by 48 inches, but keep in mind
that this area must be located beyond the swing of the exit door
and clear of the exit path ambulatory persons will use.
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Evacuation Planning
Establish a Floor Warden System––these individuals are
responsible for:
•overseeing and coordinating evacuation activities,
•conducting a final pass through the office space,
•ensuring that everyone receives the necessary assistance as
appropriate,
•ensuring all doors to the elevator lobby are closed,
•and reporting the floor evacuation status to the first fire or
emergency officials
•arriving on the scene.
When the alarm goes off, the Floor Warden should
immediately verify circumstances and inform the person with a
disability accordingly. It is of great importance to designate an
alternate Floor Warden in the instance when the initial designee
is absent. The names of these designated individuals should be
updated and posted on a regular basis.
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Evacuation Planning
Identify a location or locations for an area of refuge––
• In the event of a need for evacuation from an upper floor,
wheelchair users should make their way, either accompanied
or on their own, to a designated area of refuge or other place of
safety on the same floor, (e.g., a closed staircase landing as
described earlier).
• They should inform their supervisor, a colleague, or other
available person that they will remain in that place of safety
and wait for assistance. Providing two-way radios or a
telephone in these areas are excellent examples of ensuring
that communication is provided.
• The supervisor or other designated person should inform the
first fire or emergency officials arriving on the scene of the
disabled person’s location.
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Evacuation Planning
Evaluate the need for evacuation devices from upper and
lower floors.
• If used, their location(s) should be identified and their use
should be practiced during regularly scheduled drills.
• The use of evacuation devices can be directed through the
installation of signage (e.g., individuals using evacuation
chairs must use the east stairwell next to the men’s room).
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Example of Evacuation Chair
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Evacuation Planning
• Practice dealing with different circumstances and unforeseen
situations, such as blocked paths or exits.
• Remember never to open doors that are too hot.
• Ensure that all workers, including those on other shifts and
those who are at the site after typical hours, (e.g., cleaning
crews, evening meeting coordinators, etc.) are aware of
wheelchair users who are typically in the building. Such offhour employees should be involved in fire emergency drills.
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EVACUATION
Individuals with disabilities will face a variety of
challenges in evacuating, depending on the nature of the
emergency.
People with a mobility disability may need assistance leaving
a building without a working elevator.
Procedures should be in place to ensure that people with
disabilities can evacuate the physical area in a variety of
conditions with or without assistance.
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Evacuation Procedures
Only attempt an emergency evacuation if you have had
emergency assistance training or the person is in immediate
danger and cannot wait for emergency services personnel.
Some evacuation methods for
wheelchair users involve
carrying an individual, such as
the Swing or Chair Carry
method shown here.
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ALWAYS ASK someone with a disability how you can help
before attempting any emergency evacuation assistance. Ask
how he or she can best be assisted or moved, and whether
there are any special considerations or items that need to come
with the person.
Another evacuation method for
wheelchair users is the 3 person
assist, shown here.
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Assessing the Situation for People with Mobility Impairments:
• It may be necessary to help clear the exit route of debris (if possible).
• If people with mobility impairments cannot exit, they should move to
a safer area, e.g., ** most enclosed stairwells**
• Call 911 or notify police or fire personnel immediately about any
people remaining in the building and their locations.
• Police or fire personnel will decide whether people are safe where
they are, and will evacuate them as necessary. The Fire Department may
determine that it is safe to override the rule against using elevators.
• If people 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.
Power Outages:
• If an outage occurs during the day and people with disabilities choose to wait
in the building for electricity to be restored, they can move near a window where
there is natural light and access to a working telephone.
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Contracting for Emergency Services
• Make sure that contracts for emergency services require
providers to follow appropriate steps outlined in this
presentation.
• Review the terms of these contracts on a regular basis to
ensure that they continue to meet the accessibility needs of
people with mobility impairments.
• Provide training to contractors so that they understand how
best to coordinate their activities with your overall
accessibility plan for emergency services.
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Home Evacuation for Wheelchair Users
• Before a Fire Occurs:
• Identify and determine the nearest emergency exit or exits within
your home.
• If possible, try to live, or have your sleeping area, close to an
accessible exit.
• You might require some accommodations to facilitate an
emergency exit such as a ramp or removal of barriers.
• Make the adjustments necessary to ensure a safe escape route.
• Be sure that you can open all locks on windows and doors
throughout your house.
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Home Evacuation for Wheelchair Users
•Heat and smoke detectors can reduce the chance of dying in a
home fire by approximately 60%.
•Install heat or smoke detectors throughout your home. Key
locations are: the kitchen, basement, storage areas, trash areas,
accessible attics, sleeping areas and hallways.
•Make sure that smoke alarms are kept cleaned and vacuumed
regularly to remove dust particles. Test the batteries monthly and
replace batteries twice a year to ensure that they are working
properly.
•If your smoke alarms are connected to the electric circuits of
your residence, you should have battery backups in case of an
electrical failure.
•If you are unable to perform these tasks yourself, ask your
friends, family members, building managers, or someone from
the fire department to help you out.
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Home Evacuation for Wheelchair Users
•Learn how to use a fire extinguisher. For those who use
wheelchairs, you might want to consider mounting a small
personal extinguisher in an accessible place. This will be
beneficial if you cannot “stop, drop, and roll” if your clothing
catches on fire.
•Another beneficial resource of information is your local fire
department. They can provide valuable information regarding
better escape routes, equipment, and potential hazards within
your home. Become knowledgeable of the fire department’s
restrictions and inform them of yours.
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What to Do in Case a Fire Occurs…
• Always test doors before opening them.
• Use the back of your hand and reach up high and touch
the door, the doorknob, and the space between the door
and the frame. If the door feels hot, keep it closed and use
a second exit if available. If the door feels cool, open the
door slowly and exit, staying as low to the ground as
possible.
• If it is impossible for you to stay low to the ground, cover
your mouth and nose and safely exit the room as quickly
as possible.
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What to Do in Case a Fire Occurs…
• Exit your home as quickly as possible.
• Do not use any elevators and do not go back inside after
exiting your home.
• Get help from your neighbors and contact the fire department.
• If you get trapped in your room close all doors between you
and the fire.
• Fill cracks in all open spaces so no smoke enters the room.
• If possible, contact the fire department and inform them what
room you are in. It is also a good idea to use a light colored
cloth and wave it out the window to signal the fire department
when they arrive at your location.
• If you own a cell phone, keep it with you at all times.
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Conclusion
• Group Discussion
• Follow-Up & Questions
• Resources
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Resources
•US Department of Justice
www.ada.gov/emergencyprep.htm
•American Red Cross
www.prepare.org/disabilities/disabilities.htm
•National Organization on Disability
www.nod.org
•United Spinal Association
www.unitedspinal.org
•US Access Board
www.access-board.gov
•International Code Council (ICC)
http://www.iccsafe.org/accessibility
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Questions????
Thank You For Attending!
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