The emergency response plan for each center should have general provisions (e.g., provide a student who is hard of hearing with a vibrating or illuminating alarm, include the room numbers of students who require assistance in the dormitory logbook) to account for and assist persons with disabilities in the event of an emergency. If a center does not have a plan that considers the needs of people with disabilities, many agencies and organizations including the local fire department and local disability organizations may be able to assist with the development of an inclusive plan or provide resource information. The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) has developed guidelines for colleges to adapt emergency procedures for individuals with disabilities. Many of these guidelines are appropriate or can be slightly modified for use on center.

Each student with a disability will have unique abilities and needs. Therefore, when a student with a disability arrives on center, the safety officer will review the center's emergency procedures and evacuation plan to determine if any provisions (e.g., assigning the student a buddy) to the plan are necessary to assure the safety of the student in the event of an emergency. If provisions are needed, they will be developed as part of the student's accommodation plan. In addition, appropriate staff and students should be informed of, receive training in, and practice any new procedures.

Ready, Willing & Able is a free, professional, 2 hour, introductory online course on how to assist individuals with disabilities during emergency situations. Information about this training can be found at http://www.train.org/. The course name Ready, Willing, & Able and course number 1010882 are necessary for registration.

General Guidelines

• There is no single totally acceptable procedure for evacuation during an emergency. Determine, with professional consultation if necessary, what adaptations to the center's plan will be needed. 

• Buddies would provide assistance to the student with a disability in the event of an emergency and in everyday situations on center. To be effective the student must be able to make contact quickly with a buddy when the need arises. Therefore, each student with a disability who requests assistance should be assigned several buddies in the dormitory; and academic and career technical classrooms to increase the likelihood that a buddy will be available. Volunteers should receive appropriate training (e.g., buddies for student who is visually impaired may be trained in guide techniques) from the student, center staff, a student volunteer who has already been trained, or outside organization and practice to ensure that the student and buddy are comfortable and capable of completing their assigned tasks. The buddy system does not take the place of staff responsibility for ensuring the safety and welfare of the student.

  For places where a student with a disability tends to be alone, s/he must:

  Practice escape/safety routes

  Know where the nearest telephones and alarm boxes are in order to call for help if necessary, how to describe the exact location in the building, and how to hang something out the window to attract attention

  Be aware of the options for self-protection including procedures to follow if a fire is between him or her and all escape routes (close doors, seal cracks under doors, etc.).

• There are a number of situations on center when a student may be alone and must be able to evacuate from the building independently, and if escape routes are blocked, protect him/herself and ask for help quickly (AHEAD, 1995). Therefore, two evacuation plans for a student with a disability should be developed--one for when they are with people without disabilities and one for when they are alone.

• Students with disabilities should participate in all center drills and practice adaptations. Practice includes periodically walking through procedures, announced drills, and surprise drills. If possible, when notifying local emergency services providers of the arrival of a student with a disability on center, the center should request that the local department come to the center to ensure that the emergency plan proposed for the student is safe and effective. 

• The safety officer should provide the local emergency services department with written information about any persons on center who may need assistance in an emergency. This will alert the department of the student's disability, likely location and what type of assistance may be required in the event of an emergency. 

• The dormitory logbook should contain the room number and type of assistance required by each student with a disability. Center security should also have a copy of the student's schedule and type of assistance required. Room changes should be kept to a minimum since security and local emergency services need to be notified of changes.

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Guidelines for Specific Disabilities

Provided below are guidelines for individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing, blind/visually impaired, or have mobility disabilities.

People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Adaptations to the process of notification of an emergency will likely be necessary for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They may not hear auditory emergency alarms or may hear the alarm, but not emergency voice communication. Adaptations include:

• Provide several buddies who can, if necessary, write down or use gestures to state the nature of the emergency and the nearest evacuation route and/or escort the person with a hearing loss during egress as s/he may not be able to follow oral commands issued by authorities.

• Provide visual alarms wherever audible alarms are provided. Since people with a hearing loss may not perceive an audio emergency alarm, alternative warning techniques may be needed.

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People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

Adaptations to the process of notification of an emergency will likely be necessary for people who are blind or visually impaired. They may not hear visual emergency alarms or emergency voice communication. Adaptations include:

• Provide instructions, maps, and other emergency and safety information in accessible format. Individuals with visual impairment are entitled to formats (large print, Braille, cassette tape) which work well with their eyesight and personal preferences. An individual's preferred format may vary depending on the type of information being conveyed. The availability of emergency information in alternate formats will also benefit students with other types of disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities) who have difficulty reading printed instructions.

• Provide orientation to buildings especially those in which the student will spend most of their time such as the dormitory, classroom, and career technical training location. In an emergency, individuals with sight can often look around quickly to find a fire exit, alarm box, or phone, but a person with a visual impairment must already know where alarms and emergency exits are located in order to be able to respond rapidly in an emergency. Orientation is usually done by a trained orientation and mobility specialist or other qualified person. The orientation specialist works with the blind/visually-impaired student to learn the building layout and then helps them familiarize themselves with vital safety information. This information includes the location of alarm boxes, telephones, fire doors, windows and exit routes and in case the main route is blocked by fire, smoke or debris, routes to a safe area/area of refuge.

• Provide several buddies. In an emergency an individual with a visual impairment may want/need to be guided out of a building by another student or staff member. If so, staff should request that the student be assigned several trained volunteer buddies who will provide the him/her with assistance in the event of an emergency. One or two buddies should be immediately available to the individual in an actual emergency. If it is unclear at the time of an actual emergency, the staff person in charge should ask again in case the individual with visual impairment would like assistance. For example, using a cane is very comfortable for some individuals who are legally blind, but in a dense crowd there may not be enough space to tap the cane. An individual with visual impairment should never be forced to accept a guide, and, in an emergency, no one should decline an individual's request for one. If a trained volunteer is not present when a crisis starts, the evacuation should proceed using the people on hand as anyone in the room can offer his or her arm for support. The individual with visual impairment knows basically what the guide should do.

• Individuals with visual impairment or blindness should be evacuated together with sighted students. The presence of a blind individual will not interfere with the evacuation. In fact, an individual who is blind makes an excellent guide in the dark when s/he is familiar with a building. In a case where lights are out and there is not enough light for sighted people to find their way around, a blind individual can usually lead the evacuation. In the dark a blind individual can also dial the telephone easily to call for help because s/he has memorized the telephone keypad.

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People with Mobility Disabilities

Adaptations to the process of notification of an emergency will likely be necessary for people who are have mobility impairments. Adaptations include:

• Plan ahead to ensure that, when possible, classes for students with disabilities are scheduled in the most accessible locations. The same holds true for dormitory rooms. More accessible rooms should be offered to students with mobility disabilities on a preferential basis.

• Make students with mobility disabilities aware of the evacuation routes for the different areas on center where he/she will be.

• Designate a safe area/area of refuge if an area on center has no easy exit.

• Provide buddies who will be trained to provide any assistance the student may need in an emergency situation. Buddies should also be trained in wheelchair transfer techniques as well as the operation of devices in the event there is no other means of evacuation during an emergency.

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