Evacuation planning of critical infrastructures in case of an earthquake or a fire for people with disabilities

The volume examines key aspects relevant to evacuation of people with disabilities in emergency situations. These aspects include types of evacuation signs and escape routes, as part of building's fire safety plan, as well as the setting up of personal evacuation plans. The last is critical, because coping with emergencies is not only an authorities matter; citizens should also play an active role by preparing for example their own evacuation plans, based on their needs and capabilities. Especially for people with disabilities, education and training in the line of preparedness and response against natural or manmade disasters is vital, since they are considered more vulnerable and potentially in danger. Taking as a fact that everybody may potentially encounter some type of temporary impairment during their life span, this is becoming a priority matter.

More specifically, this document is a primal effort to gather existing work worldwide for people with disabilities in the line of "Disabled but equal" perception, as well as to present state-of-the-art smart tools that can facilitate their lives and protect them in case of a disaster. In that prospect, a resume of work done so far relevant to emergency preparedness and response of people with disabilities is presented, recording European and other initiatives in Australia and the USA. Legal aspects relevant to legislation and standards for evacuation of buildings especially for those groups of population are pointed out, focusing on critical infrastructures, e.g. hospitals. Moreover, tips for preparing "Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans" per type of disability, such as mobility impairment, visibility impairment (blind or low vision), hearing impairment (deaf or hard hearing), as well as, speech and cognitive impairment will be proposed.