Posted By Laurie
Malcolm

We recently had the same problem during an update of our procedures (we have 9 floor and 6 floor teaching blocks).

We used to follow the same procedure as you, but the Firemaster's preferred option now is that the College should start to evacuate any disabled persons, using in house procedures, until such time as his firefighters arrive, when they will monitor, assist or take over as required.

His reasoning for this is that while in 99% of cases they can be with us in minutes (and their response times are really first class), if they are already on a major shout, there could be a delay.

We are tackling this by using trained evacuation teams of young, fit (normally male simply because of physical strength) staff who, once the main evacuation has slowed, will go to the refuge point and evacuate the dsiabled person using an evacuation chair.

While this procedure is not yet fully in place, we plan to excercise all teams (we have six campuses in all) at least 3 monthly, and where possible, to go through the full evac procedure wih every mobility impaired user of the College, though if you are anything like us it will not just be students to consider, but also clients and visitors in such areas as Hairdressing and the Training Restaurant.

You will need to dsicuss it with your insurance company, and also to confirm with your firemaster that your revised proceduire meets with his/her approval.

I will probably carry out individual risk assessments for each case.

Hope this is of some help. You might also post your query on the Firenet. You get very professional guidance there.

Laurie