Campus Evacuation Plan
I. Purpose
To provide for an orderly evacuation of a College facility during an emergency, the following plan and operating procedures have been adopted.
- Evacuation and Emergency Escape Procedures
In the event of an alarm sounding or other notice of evacuation, all persons including students, faculty, staff and visitors should leave the building by the closest available exit in an orderly manner. Emergency evacuation routes are posted in the facilities.
- Accountability for Students
Faculty should take attendance at the beginning of each class so that all persons may be accounted for after an evacuation. The instructor should evacuate the class and bring the roster to account for all students. It is preferable that doors are closed but not locked, as classrooms are evacuated and the instructor ensures that the classroom is empty. The instructor should regroup the class at the evacuation site. Any student(s) unaccounted for should be reported to emergency response personnel immediately.
- Accountability for Employees
Supervisors or designees should account for the employees in their immediate work area or department. Any employee(s) unaccounted for should be reported to emergency response personnel immediately. Since supervisors are responsible for accounting for employees, it is imperative that work groups reassemble in the designated evacuation site after evacuation.
- Evacuation Sites
The primary evacuation site should be utilized when possible. However, an alternate site is designated in case the primary site is unsuitable due to smoke/wind conditions or other factors. See Appendix A: Campus Maps for evacuation locations.
- Rescue and Medical Duties
Appropriate county emergency response personnel, including fire and rescue department personnel, shall perform rescue and medical duties. College employees are not required to perform rescue and medical duties. Nothing in this Policy should be interpreted as restricting employees from providing first aid or rescue assistance on a volunteer basis.
- Evacuation of Persons with Disabilities
In the event of a building evacuation for buildings with multiple floors, persons with mobility impairment who may be on an upper floor must use their own discretion to determine if using the elevator is more of a risk than waiting for rescue personnel to reach them. If person(s) with mobility impairment cannot access or chooses not to access the elevator, they should go to designated area(s) located on each of the upper floors so that emergency personnel can access their location more quickly. The locations of all designated areas shall be maintained in an emergency evacuation protocol and be readily available for emergency response personnel.
College faculty and staff cannot be required to lift or carry a person with a mobility impairment, as it is beyond the Office of Civil Rights’ definition of “minor assistance” and is a “service of a personal nature” which is not required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Nothing in this Policy should be interpreted as restricting employees from offering this type of assistance during an emergency. If a person with mobility impairment does not utilize a wheelchair but could benefit from assistance during an evacuation, office or computer lab chairs with rollers are readily available in every building. Lift chairs are available on building floors without ground-level egress. Designated personnel are trained to support evacuation of individuals with mobility impairments.
- Fire Drills and Mobility Impaired Individuals
A person with mobility impairment may request advance notification of planned fire drills so that the individual can decide whether evacuation during the drill is advisable or would possibly pose a risk of injury. In this case, mandatory participation is not required for a person with mobility impairment. To request advance notification, the person with a documented mobility disability must notify the Student Advocacy Coordinator (disability/accommodations coordinator), who will provide the Campus Resource Officer(s) with a list of such persons requesting advance notification, once the person has requested the early alert service. The Campus Resource Officer will notify the person(s) by telephone, in person, or by email prior to the drill.
