Procedures for people in wheelchairs or other disabilities that affect mobility?
Able-bodied as well as disabled occupants must be covered under any written procedures. If your floor has to be evacuated, you should plan to horizontally relocate to a refuge area. In buildings with automatic fire sprinkler protection, this may simply be to an adjacent compartment or office space. In other cases, your building may be provided with areas of refuge. These spaces may be located as stand-alone, barriered compartments on the floor, or they may consist of oversized landings in stairwells. Regardless of which feature you have, your plan includes waiting in one of the designated spaces until fire department personnel can remove you. Often times, these spaces are provided with a two-way communication device so you can give rescue personnel your location. Your work environment may also supplement this procedure with a "buddy" system. In this case, you need to anticipate situations where the "buddy" may not be available in an emergency. In every case, and regardless of one's abilities, if you have any questions about your building's plan or how you fit into it, you should ask your employer for detailed information and request a role for those with disabilities in crafting the plan.

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1. Are building owners/operators required to hold regular emergency drills?
2. Are emergency instructions tailored to events and communicated to building occupants?
3. How can I judge if my building's evacuation plan is adequate for any emergency?
4. If I become trapped, should I break a window? Should I jump?
5. If I have a long stairwell, is it better to go to the roof?
6. If the neighboring high-rise is one fire, should my building evacuate?
7. Is high-rise building evacuation different from other buildings?
8. Procedures for people in wheelchairs or other disabilities that affect mobility?
9. Should my building have any type of exterior escape device?
10. Under what circumstances may I use the elevator safely?
11. What are the key elements of emergency preparedness?
12. What happens when the event is not typical?
13. Will the systems work in a terrorist attack?