Emergency Assembly Sites & Areas of Refuge
Areas of Refuge are established on every floor within every building and are identified with the universal Handicapped Accessibility symbol. Meeting Sites Emergency Assembly Sites are areas where building occupants assemble following an evacuation to await instructions and “all clear” notifications. The Campus has designated external meeting sites in the Emergency Preparedness Plan for Campus buildings. Designated Meeting Sites should be a minimum of 500 feet from the incident or the evacuated facility and should not block ingress or egress of emergency responders. It is also important for evacuees to remain on site until a complete roll call is taken by Safety Monitors.
Areas of Refuge
If a person with a disability cannot get far enough away from the danger by using Horizontal Evacuation, then that person should seek an Area of Refuge. An area of refuge serves as a temporary haven from the effects of a fire or other emergency. A person with a severe mobility impairment must have the ability to travel from the area of refuge to the public way, although such travel might depend on the assistance of others. Such an area should have the following: 1) telephone communication, 2) a sprinkler system, and 3) one-hour fire-rated assembly (i.e., fire-rated door, walls, ceiling). Specific areas of refuge for each building will be designated by signage at the handicap entrances.
Usually, the safest areas of refuge are pressurized stair enclosures buildings, and open-air exit balconies. Other possible areas of refuge include: fire rated corridors or vestibules adjacent to exit stairs’ Some campus buildings feature fire rated corridor construction that may offer safe refuge. Taking a position in a rated corridor next to the stair is a good alternative to a small stair landing crowded with the other building occupants using the stairway.
Areas of Refuge are established on every floor within every building and are identified with the universal Handicapped Accessibility symbol.
