Importance of Planning for Evacuations in Emergency Situations

Evacuations have become more common in today's world than many people realize. They are majorly the results of fires, floods or any calamity that occurs within our homes. Other storms like hurricanes upon their occurrence make mass-scale evacuation. Some occurrence takes place as a result of the activities done by man on land and some exist naturally. For example, transportation and industrial accidents that take place end up in releasing harmful substances at homes, places of work or along the water bodies, which make people to leave their homes and even places of work. However, the amount of time one leaves depends on the nature of the hazard. In case the event is in form of weather condition, you might have a day to ready. Some disasters do not give people time to pick their basic necessities and they end up vacating without any single asset.

For this matter, planning ahead is very essential.An organized evacuation can result to either confusion, injury to the people vacating or damage of the property vacated. Therefore, when developing an emergency action plan, it is important to determine factors like the conditions under which evacuation would be necessary, evacuation procedures like routes and exits. Some important symbols also include fire, emergency and disaster planning diagrams, stairwell, security camera, sprinklers, and roof access, among many others. In this plinth, the paper aims at designing a well furnished evacuation plan with proper mapping, planning exit doors, and the plan for the disable. It will also pinpoint the importance of planning in advance for evacuation as well as stating some of the safety equipments and alarms. The safety equipment herein is good quality smoke detector, regular maintenance and the survival kits in case of emergency.

Mapping

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Map is very instrumental in the design of evacuation plan. It provides instant clarity during the occurrence of the event. Some of the elements to consider include the basic layout of the property like the walls and the doors. This is very important because it help in showing the outside of the property for the people to go to in case of the emergency. The compass in the corner is also instrumental and it should indicate the direction of North with a capital letter "N." The exit points like the doors should be left wide open most of the time for clear accessibility during exit. The marshal area, the point where the evacuees meet should be safe and a distance from the building site to provide enough protection from fie and any onsite peril like chemicals and explosive materials.

Planning in Advance

Apparently, planning in advance help in preventing most of the problems thereafter. Planning should start as far as the foundation of the building is laid. In planning, there should be a well stated chain of command, the person responsible for assessing the situation, the one in charge of high building, and even notifying the emergency services. It is important to plan and make everyone knows his or her role and be trained how to perform it. For instance, posting an evacuation plan on each floor, and identifying a trained personnel helps a lot in the getting people out in case of the disaster. The personnel ensure that everyone is accounted for and taken care of during the event. Planning for a visitor managing system also assist in the provision of a digital visitor log, this in return helps in account for any of the non-employee who might be present in the building during the occurrence.

Planning Exit doors and Surveying the Site

Specific evacuation procedures should be well planned and designed. Location of the emergency equipment like, routes, and exits like the doors, windows, should be marked and kept clear, open and safe all the time. They should be without any obstructions. In case of any building with interior spaces like the stairwells, painting should be done for clear visibility. Also, survey should be done in these places regularly to and reports made to the personnel responsible so that in case if damage, repair is made at an early stage. Evacuation plan suitable for disabled people Managers and the owners of institutions have the sole responsibility of providing the emergency facilities for people with disability.

Disability like hearing, visually, speech, mentally should be taken care of. The elderly persons and children should also be considered in this case. A means of communication to people with hearing and seeing problems should be provided so that they are accommodated in case of the event. Color coding for the room identification should be simple and easy to identify for the disabled. Moreover, the employees should be taken to seminars and workshops and trained adequately on how to handle unexpected behavior as well as providing necessary assistant to people with such problems. Additionally, they should be made aware on how to handle mentally impaired persons and make good attempts to communicate with them efficiently, in a loving and caring manner.

The Importance of Planning in Advance for Evacuation

It is important to understand that disasters are has to happen in every society. The response and recovery of the disaster starts and end at the local level and therefore it is important for the community to work together so as to prevent, avoid or control the occurrence of such phenomenon. Advance preparation ensures that most of the problems are controlled or saved. It is very important to alert the family members or the workers on how to respond to the cyclone watches and warnings for it helps them escape the danger within a short period of time.

Children at the age of between nine and eleven when taught how to call police or fire department will help them save their lives in case they are alone in the house. Listening to instructions from the officials in various departments within the office helps one to prepare in advance to vacate the room when they inform you to do so. The fly away kits, which are the small bags or backpacks that contain family documents like the identification cards, the ATMs, credits cards should be kept in plastic bags to keep them dry most of the time. The kit helps in gathering most of the items like medicine, money and any important document before departure. Maintaining important credentials like the education, birth, marriage certificates, immunization records easily allow the foreign workers to grab their files quickly and plan for their travel back to their home countries or the adjacent states for safety.

Testing the Escape Plan

Plans must be checked, assessed and updated sporadically to ensure that they are up to date. Any contingency plan is better than failing to plan completely. It is important to test the workability of the plan to ascertain yourself that it is functional. Practicing the plan made underway will ensure that the problems and the weaknesses in the plans are identified at their primary stages and the corrective measure taken before everything goes a mess. Practicing also enables the planners to exactly know what they are required to do and where they should go at what particular time.

Safety Equipment and Alarm

No one plans for an emergency or disaster, especially the ones that affects their lives. The truth is that the emergencies and disasters can strike anyone, anytime and anywhere and therefore preparing for them is very essential. One can be forced to vacate the house, work place or company at the time he or she least expected. In this precept, it is important to avail the safety equipment and alarms so that in case of any emergency, one is caught on the safe side.

Good Quality Smoke Extinguishers and Fire Detectors Fire detector and smoke extinguishers is very appropriate and should be very effective. It must be able to sound a strong warning to all people within the premise in all circumstance. In as much as there are different types of fire alarms, one should consider the appropriate one for that risk assessment. Before installing the detector system, it is inherent to discuss with the local fire authority and advise accordingly. There are series of factors one should consider before installation. Ensure that the escape route is short, clear passageways to all the escape routes, the escape are kept free from any obstructions. It is very instrumental to install the emergency lighting system so as to provide enough light in the room in case of the event.

Regular Maintenance

Maintenance should be done regularly to ensure that the systems are in good conditions always. The personnel should do frequent check up on the workability in order to avoid the last minute rush. During assessment, the personnel may require that you provide portable multi-purpose fire extinguishers so that people on your premises can tackle a fire in its early stages. These fire extinguishers should be installed, tested and maintained in accordance with manufacturers' directives. In smaller business grounds, you may only need one or two transportable extinguishers.

However, larger, big premises require a number of portable extinguishers, which are situated in suitable locations. Survival kits in case of Emergency The employees may need personal protective equipment to help them vacate the room in case of an emergency. Protective kits and equipment must be based on the likelihood of the hazard at work place and the ability of the workers to use them. Some of the safety kits in this case are the safety glasses, goggles or the face shields for protection, the chemical suits, gloves, hoods and boots for body protection against chemicals. It also important to have the hard hats and the safety shoes for head and foot protection.

Conclusion

It is inherent to state that evacuation plan is very fundamental in our day to day life. It is not only used at home, but also in offices, big and small companies and any enterprise because a disaster is never planned for. It can occur to anyone, anywhere irrespective of the statues, social class, or the geographical locality. When planning for the evacuation plan, it is important to take care of all groups of people, the able and the disabled, the young and the old, and those living in low and high roofs.

Also, it's important to take the preventive measure to avoid the occurrence of the event both at home and at work place, and in case it takes place there should be ways through which the victims find their ways out. Maintenance of the equipments used is very vital since it helps in ensuring that they are in good conditions always. They should also be tried always to ensure their workability and to avoid not only using them during crisis.

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