Emergency Evacuation Chairs
What are Emergency Evacuation Chairs?
Emergency evacuation chairs are fold-up chairs, which are stored near emergency exits and allow for people with permanent or temporary mobility limitations to be moved down sets of stairs during an emergency. These devices can help faculty, staff, students or first responders quickly move people with mobility limitations down the stairs and to exit the building. Although many businesses, government buildings, schools and colleges purchase them voluntarily, evacuation chairs are not mandatory or required by law.Evacuation Chair Locations:
Evacuation chairs have been placed in university buildings that have stairwells. Evacuation chairs are placed in a visible area in a stairwell, or in a hallway near a stairwell or elevator that is in a high-use area. It is not recommended that evacuation chairs be placed in emergency exit only stairwells as building occupants will likely not be acquainted with the location of the chair in an area they do not frequent.
To make emergency evacuation chairs more recognizable in campus buildings, OEM and EHS have placed the chairs in bright yellow cabinets. The cabinets are not locked, for ease of use in emergency situations.
How to Use:
Instructions for operating the standard model emergency evacuation chair are located with each emergency evacuation chair.Is a Chair Missing?
Building personnel should immediately contact OEM if the emergency evacuation chair, cabinet, or signage are damaged or missing from the emergency evacuation chair storage area. WSSU Police and Public Safety will be contacted to file a report for any stolen or damaged emergency evacuation chair.Evacuating a Building:
All people, including those with disabilities, are required to evacuate a facility anytime the fire alarm system is activated. People without disabilities should exit the building using the nearest exit. Elevators should never be used in the event of a fire without explicit authorization by public safety personnel.
