Evacuation for People with Disabilities – Guidelines

When the fire alarm goes off in a building, most people head for the stairs. For someone who uses a wheelchair, cannot hear the alarm or cannot see the exit sign, the same alarm can be the start of a long, frightening wait. Whether they get out depends on whether someone planned for them before the emergency.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) says persons with disabilities die in disasters two to four times more often than the rest of the population. Its 2023 global survey of about 6,000 persons with disabilities in 132 countries found that 84% had no personal preparedness plan, and only 11% knew of a disaster management plan for their area (UNDRR 2023, as reported by Down To Earth, 13 October 2023).

In India, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (Section 8) gives persons with disabilities equal protection and safety in disasters and emergencies. It asks the national and state disaster management authorities to include them in disaster management, and district authorities to keep a record of persons with disabilities and warn them of risks.

Why this matters

The problem is usually not the disability. It is the building and the plan:

• No ramp, a narrow door or a lift that stops working in a fire.
• An alarm that only makes a sound, with no flashing light.
• Nobody assigned to help, so everyone assumes someone else will.

Safe evacuation for everyone has to be designed and practised, not improvised on the day.

Different needs, different help

Need	What helps in an emergency
Uses a wheelchair or has difficulty walking	A named helper, an evacuation chair for stairs, ramps and wide doors
Blind or low vision	Clear spoken directions, an arm to hold, tactile markings and a clear route
Deaf or hard of hearing	Flashing-light alarms, a tap on the shoulder, hand signals and written notes
Intellectual disability, autism or memory problems	A calm voice, short simple instructions and a familiar person

A step-by-step plan

1. Prepare in advance

• Find out who in your family, society or office may need help to get out.
• Give each of them a buddy: a named person who knows what help is needed, with a second person as backup.
• Keep an emergency card with medical details, medicines, mobility needs and contact numbers.
• Keep the wheelchair, walker, white cane and hearing aid within reach, not stored away.
• Ask the person what help they want. They know their own needs best.

2. Make the building easier to leave

• Ramps with handrails and doors wide enough for a wheelchair.
• Glow tape or tactile strips along the route to the exit.
• Alarms with flashing lights as well as sound.
• Exit signs in Braille or raised letters where possible.

Small changes like these make the biggest difference.

3. During the emergency

• Stay calm and speak clearly. Use short sentences, gestures or written notes.
• For a deaf person, get their attention with a tap or a wave, face them and use hand signals.
• For a blind person, offer your arm and describe what is ahead: “Five steps down, then turn left.”
• Move steadily. Do not drag or lift someone unless you know how to do it safely.
• Keep the wheelchair, cane or walker with the person.

4. In a multi-storey building

• Keep an evacuation chair on the floors where it is needed, and train people to use it on stairs.
• Know the building’s refuge area or protected staircase lobby, where a person can wait safely for the fire brigade.
• Keep these areas clearly marked, lit and unlocked.
• Do not use the lift in a fire unless it is a fire lift and the fire brigade is directing its use.
• Tell the fire brigade on arrival exactly where anyone is waiting.

In drills, use the real routes, not the convenient shortcuts.

5. After you are out

• Check that mobility aids, hearing aids and medicines came too.
• Find a quiet, steady place for anyone upset by noise and crowds.
• Keep the person with their carer or guide dog.
• Tell doctors and rescuers about any medical needs straight away.

Who does what

Who	What to do
Families	Plan a route that works for everyone at home, and a backup.
Schools	Train teachers to guide children with different needs calmly in drills.
Housing societies	Keep a confidential list of residents who may need help, and include them in every drill.
Employers	Make workplace drills accessible and appoint safety buddies.

Tips for anyone helping

• Ask before you touch, push or lift anyone.
• Speak to the person, not to the person with them.
• Say what you are going to do before you do it.
• Never separate someone from their wheelchair, cane or hearing aid.
• Public spaces need warnings people can hear, see and feel.

Common mistakes

• Using an ordinary lift in a fire.
• Leaving wheelchairs and other aids behind.
• Shouting instructions at someone who cannot hear them.
• Treating persons with disabilities as helpless instead of asking what they need.
• Running drills that leave them out.

What needs to change

• Accessibility provisions of the National Building Code 2016 followed in every new building, and older ones upgraded.
• Fire and disaster audits that check whether evacuation works for persons with disabilities.
• Training for police, fire and rescue staff on helping persons with disabilities.
• Disability-inclusive planning by every district disaster management authority, as the 2016 Act requires.

Do this this week

If someone at home, in your society or at work needs help to get out, sit down with them and agree a plan: who helps, which route, where they wait if the stairs are a problem, and what goes with them. Then practise it once.