245
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024
245 points (98.8% liked)
Ask Lemmy
26980 readers
1264 users here now
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected].
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
In my workplace, there are a few options: When a disabled person is on a certain floor above ground floor, there will be a special chair they can be put in, that allows one person to maneuver them down the fire escape. Multiple people in the company are trained on the use of this contraption and are notified before the evacuation is necessary.
When there are more wheelchair bound people in the building than there are evacuation chairs available, they'll have to be taken to the fire escape behind double fireproof doors, where the area is pressurized with clean air. There the firemen will evacuate them.
A third option is the area where the elevators are. It closes automatically and has a fireproof door where you can wait in front of the elevators for the firemen to evacuate you using the elevators (or otherwise).
Normally there aren't that many wheelchair bound people in the building that need those chairs, because visitors are normally confined to the ground floor. On a floor where a disabled person used to work (now retired), one of those chairs was permanently available.
Edit: the ones we have resemble these https://evac-chair.com/
These things are absolutely terrifying btw. There's much better options out there. I never realized until I had the chance to ride one during a practice, I replaced every single one of them for our company after that for evacuation mattresses.
We have a different brand, but otherwise comparable. During our training and practice, we did a few runs with volunteers and also with the colleague who was wheelchair bound. While it does feel a bit weird the first time, it doesn't feel unsafe to sit in, and also when operating it, you feel like in control without too much effort.
During our evacuations, everybody remains calm, and everything remains orderly and coordinated. I have to admit we never had an evacuation with fire and smoke near the people, but with the early warnings we get, that's unlikely to happen. The building was designed with good compartmentalisation, so even when there's a fire, the smoke shouldn't spread too far.
Good on you, that thing looks terrifying to sit in. I guess a fire is pretty good motivation to strap into the damn thing but it doesn’t look safe at all. I was expecting like sled tracks with a triple wheeled axle that would have some kind of hand break to keep it from free sledding down the stairs and stop entirely if released.
It's kinda hard to explain, but you need to kinda push it down the stairs. The tracks have loads of resistance, providing it's maintained properly. I don't think it's unsafe with proper maintenance, but the experience of sitting in that chair surely makes you question if you're absolutely sure about that. You can't see the tracks from where you're sitting, and your legs just dangle above a height you perceive as 2+ meters because of the slope of the stairs and the incline of the chair. And then the person behind you actively pushes you into that, making you instinctively react to an incoming free fall.
Also in a fire or any other evacuation it's very important you stay calm. You're not gonna stay calm in this. I'm not scared easily but even I fucking hated it. Let alone someone thats wounded and scared to begin with.
I don't know how many facility managers are here, but get an evac mattress. It's cheaper and doesn't need maintenance and is infinitely user Friendly.
Haha, you did a really good job explaining how incredibly unnerving that would be. Just staring off a cliff of pain while somebody actively pushes you infinitely further off the ledge with no control over your own fate.
Edit: even the guy on the website looks like he’s questioning his decision to get strapped in for the picture