Conference to Seek Greater Life Safety For the Handicapped
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A federal law mandating that access to public buildings be provided for the handicapped raises a concern for the fire service—the safety of these people in the event of a fire or other emergency.
Such problems as alerting the handicapped to emergencies in buildings, providing areas of refuge or adequate egress facilities, defining the responsibilities of building managers and determining how the fire service can provide greater life safety will be among the topics discussed at the 1980 Conference on Life Safety and the Handicapped at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Oct. 26-29. The conference is sponsored by the National Task Force on Life Safety and the Handicapped, P.O. Box 19044, Washington, D.C. 20036, and it is being funded by the United States Fire Administration, the Department of Labor and the Veterans Administration.
Panel discussions
The first such conference was held last November at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington. At that conference, the alarm panelists discussed alarm systems designed to warn and guide the deaf and blind, which included tactile and visual exit and warning systems. The panel also considered a homing system for identifying the locations of disabled persons trapped by a fire.
Areas of refuge that provide protection from fire and smoke on the same floor were discussed by the egress and refuge panels as a means of horizontal evacuation. Both panels also suggested that elevators be made safe for the emergency removal of the disabled.
Areas of concern
The emergency services personnel panelists identified three major areas of concern: (1) the right of the handicapped to the same fire protection as the able-bodied, (2) the designing of buildings in terms of fire safety, and (3) preplanning for emergencies.
The management panel pointed out that the disabled need certain information from building managements to determine their level of risk and building managements should have adequate fire evacuation plans to meet the needs of the handicapped. The panel also expressed the opinion that building managements have a responsibility that may include exceeding code requirements to ensure the life safety of handicapped persons in their buildings.
