Emergency plans inclusive to those with disabilities at the University of Idaho have a lot of variables. UI’s solution has been to create a list of self-identified disabled people who would need help exiting the building in the event of an emergency, like a fire.
According to a template of UI’s emergency evacuation plan, this list contains the self-identified person’s full name, UI phone number, cell phone number and the building and room number of the building they work or reside in.
Todd Perry, executive director of Public Safety and Security, said each building has its own evacuation plan. Each floor or department, depending on the building, has a fire warden, or someone responsible for making sure people are educated on how to evacuate and keep order during an evacuation. All buildings have posters and maps pointing to the nearest exit.
“In the (Administration) Building you couldn’t (divide responsibilities of fire wardens) by each floor because they are so large,” Perry said. “You would have each individual department on that floor have their own person responsible to make sure people are trained, that they know what to do when a fire alarm goes off, but also keep track of those with special needs and inform them.”
During an evacuation, those who need assistance evacuating are expected to go to designated areas inside each building to wait for help. This allows for smoother evacuations because personnel know where to find people who need help evacuating.
The laws which prevent the university from revealing medical information about students or employees also prevents others from asking about medical needs, even in a time of crisis. Fire Safety Specialist Kelvin Daniels said if a person with a disability requires help in an emergency, they need to self-identify as such on paper or in-person, even if someone not affiliated with the university is the one helping them.
The emergency evacuation plan template outlines what people who need assistance evacuating should do in the case of an emergency and how others should help them. It repeatedly instructs evacuees to utilize the “buddy system” to make sure people are responsible for each other.
The template also mentions some disabilities may not always be obvious, categorizing ailments like arthritis, cardiac conditions, back problems and learning disabilities as “hidden” disabilities. Though the template does not have specific instructions for helping those with hidden disabilities, as it does with others like blindness or deafness, Daniels said fire wardens would designate someone to help those on the list of self-identified disabled people.
“We encourage all departments to update their lists (of self-identified disabled persons) at least annually,” Daniels said.
Perry said on top of lists being updated annually, fire wardens are responsible for keeping track of those with temporary disabilities.
“If they had a knee replacement, they aren’t always going to be in a wheelchair or on crutches or a cane, but for that temporary time they’ll need to know where those evacuation areas are and areas of assistance they can go to where the fire department will be looking for them in order to help them out of the building,” Perry said.
Daniels said UI is required to have four fire drills annually. Each semester, the university holds one daytime drill and one evening drill. He said this year has been a little different because of the need to incorporate social distancing while getting everyone out of each building as soon as possible. Most students even bring their masks with them as they leave the building, Daniels said.
“Fire drills this year have been great,” Daniels said. “Even with the adjustments made because of (COVID-19) (the team) has managed to get everyone out within the time standards.”
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5.