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What are wheelchair-bound people to do when a building alarm disables elevators? (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 3 months ago by some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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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.

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[-] Gork@lemm.ee 22 points 3 months ago

They could design the stairwell like in a cartoon so that the steps go diagonal to make the entire thing a one-way slide.

Then you can go wheeee! during a fire escape.

[-] Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 months ago

Emergency slides are a thing at some places, unfortunately usually only in places that focus on people with disabilities. I was at a vocational school that focused on people with disabilities for my training as a programmer, and all the buildings had spiral slides in the stairwells. The bonus was that you could also just use them as slides when moving down.

[-] Gork@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago

We are getting closer to the Futurama future where everyone gets around using pneumatic tubes.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I’ve not ever worked in one place that had both good “fire marshal” training and had an emergency chair for escaping. I was one of those volunteering to be responsible for helping a buddy escape, yet I never even saw the chair. They described how to use it. We even got tours of all the emergency equipment to gain familiarity, except that.

Since then, no place I’ve worked with have even had a Fire Marshall program

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Then just open the standpipes (for safety 😜 ) and turn them into water slides!

this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024

245 points (98.8% liked)

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