243

We had a false alarm go off in the building where I work last week. The elevators automatically shut down forcing the use of the fire escapes. The building is 22 floors. I was lucky in that I’d just taken the elevator to the first floor to step outside on a break. When they finally let us back in, I wondered what someone with mobility issues is expected to do had the building been on fire. Just die? Have a kind soul carry them? With most people wfh at least a couple of days per week, this seems really dangerous for anyone who might get stranded.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] charonn0@startrek.website 124 points 3 months ago

The building manager should (and may be legally required to) have a fire department approved emergency plan that specifically addresses this question. Usually, the plan will be for you to await rescue.

A modern, up-to-code high rise building will have designated "places of refuge" that are designed to withstand heat and smoke, such as a pressurized stairwell with fire doors. In older buildings that don't have something like that, the plan might call for disabled people to go to the nearest (unprotected) stairway, or it might call for them to remain in their office/apartment and "defend in place". If possible, call 911 (or equivalent) to notify rescuers of your location.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 78 points 3 months ago

I've been to a few older office towers where the plan was basically "in the event of a fire, people who can't walk down stairs will die horribly, so those people are not allowed above the ground floor."

Having a coworker with one leg, it meant a lot of shuffling meetings around to get the meeting room on the ground floor, but they were very meticulous about it.

[-] bizzle@lemmy.world 42 points 3 months ago

That's not a terrible emergency plan honestly

[-] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 21 points 3 months ago

Kind of limits their upward mobility, I would imagine.

And I absolutely intended the double entendre, because I can see how that could limit the ability to get into more executive positions, if the ceo or vp is required to come to the ground floor in order to talk to them, instead of two doors down the hall.

[-] mke@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Maybe in a better society the CEO wouldn't be a shiny rarity who can only exist in the topmost floor, as far away from lower employees as possible.

I know the discussion goes much deeper than that, but, y'know.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Ok but it’d also be awkward if the ceo can’t visit other floors

[-] mke@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Sorry, I can't tell if that's a really funny joke, or an actually serious point.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

It’s kinda both. Like it’s humorous, but also a lot of the frustrations of disability are. It’s funny to think about but it must be infuriating to actually reach the top of your career potential not because you can’t do the jobs, not because you aren’t willing to put in the work, and not because people aren’t willing to give you a shot, but because the board of directors meets on a high up floor and the fire code says it’s too dangerous for you to not be on the ground floor. You probably prepared for a lot of frustration and limitations by not being able to walk, I know my own disability has taught me that, but you probably didn’t think that was one of the dreams you don’t get to have.

[-] mke@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Thank you for sharing this insight.

[-] Entropywins@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Ya beats burning to death...

[-] scytale@lemm.ee 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

places of refuge

Ohh so that’s what that means. I see those signs on the stairwells of my office building and wasn’t sure what it actually meant.

[-] tyler@programming.dev 6 points 3 months ago

When I worked in a high rise we had floor fire wardens per office, and we had to have a plan on who would carry injured or otherwise immobile people down the stairs. I had an ankle surgery at one point and had a designated carrier, and a secondary for when they were out of office.

[-] ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

To add to this, modern commercial buildings are built with specifically engineered "fire partitions" throughout the structure, such as stairwells and egress pathways. In the most critical areas these are usually 2 or 3 hour rated, meaning that they are designed to withstand a structural fire for 2 to 3 hours before becoming compromised.

In America at least, modern commercial construction is exceptionally fire-resistant.

Source: I build hospitals.

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago

This makes a lot of sense. There's a person in our building who has a limitation in his movement who I noticed works on the first floor. I only saw him going into the building (rather than out) once, but he entered a space on the first floor and a security guard held the door for him. I wondered, at the time, if that was a deliberate accommodation: if someone who can't operate a heavy door works right next to the security checkpoint, there will always be someone available to hold it for them. Thanks!

[-] Sir_Fridge@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

My university used to have a bag thing that was made to slide people down the stairs.

They repeatedly asked me if it would require it in case of emergency but since arthritis makes walking painful but not impossible, especially when adrenaline kicks in and my choices are pain or a fiery death, I never had to practice with the thing.

My high-school was build against a hill luckily but since some of the evacuation included leaving through the windows if the hallway is on fire I'm assuming the idea was to lift disabled people through it.

this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024
243 points (98.8% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26666 readers
1413 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, 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 spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. 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 info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS