School Emergency Policy: Leave Wheelchair-Bound Kids Behind

[Kadie]

School Emergency Policy: Leave Wheelchair-Bound Kids Behind

POSTED: 5:55 am EST January 5, 2005
UPDATED: 10:00 am EST January 5, 2005

WESTMINSTER, Md. -- When a Carroll County, Md., high school had an emergency evacuation, everyone got out except for two students who were confined to wheelchairs.

They were abandoned in the stairwell on the second floor.

WBAL-TV in Baltimore said there is a policy at Westminster High School for what to do with the two students in wheelchairs in case of a fire. The policy said because their classrooms are on the second floor, teachers are to lead them to the second-floor stairwell and leave them there and wait for the fire crews to come to their rescue while everyone else evacuates.

Jeremy Freeze, 16, has cerebral palsy. His parents, Cassie and Tom, said what happened to their son at Westminster High recently could have killed him.

"There was a fire at Westminster High School just prior to the Christmas break, and I was alerted to the fact that Jeremy was left in the stairwell as the other children were evacuated," Cassie said.

more...

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/education/4049149/detail.html

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. Oh, that's just great!

n/t

[LynnTheDem]

2. Ohhh no no no no noooo!

This is NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

JFC!

[davidinalameda]

3. unfortunately that is standard policy

I was on the safety committee for my office and that's what they told us to do

the firefighters are trained to rescue them without possibly hurting them

[Sequoia]

11. Well, that's crap

I used to be a fire warden for Citibank near LAX that wrote software for ATM machines and they had speicifc plans to get the wheelchaired people out first. That was their priority.

[Jesus H. Christ]

35. Building safety standards are way behind Asian standards.

There was a program on PBS about it last night. The new WTC 7 building is supposed to be the paragon of American safety standards yet it's evacuation time is ridiculously slow compared to, say, the Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur.

Modern elevators are fire and smoke proof enough nowadays to be used in emergencies by both evacuees and emergency workers. US safety codes have not been modernized to utilize them.

[DulceDecorum]

86. Say that again

and you might be wearing cement clothing
once we figure out just who is going to be your tailor.
It ain't SAFE to worry too much about those New York building standards, capiche?

Among the hundreds of hours of conversations that the OCTF’s bug produced, were the discussions that centered around the “Concrete Club.” Four of the five New York Mafia families (the Bonanno’s had not been represented on the Commission for years and were considered persona non grata by the other families) grouped together to extort and control the industry responsible for manufacturing and pouring concrete on major construction jobs in the New York area. Through the control and corruption of the Cement and Concrete Workers District Council they held New York to ransom.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/lucchese2/6.html?sect=16

And just in case you are wondering about Asia,
they got their own problems.
That's why they go to the feng shui man.

[One_Life_To_Give]

89. What about material standards?

I havn't seen the "Asian Building Code" but Evacuation time is only one small component of building life safety. Allowing PVC wire in open cable trays could potentially make a rapid evacuation pointless as the occupants wouldn't live that long.

[oneighty]

4. Jeeze

Get a couple of the Jocks to carry out their disabled classmates; or a couple of the quiet ones that care about people. They would do it.

180

[CoffeeCat]

5. Is this part of Bush's education reform?

"No Child Left Behind"...unless you have a disability, then you're abandoned in the stairwell.

[genieroze]

19. ROTFLMFAO. eom

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

6. almost no child left behind.

[whistle]

7. The mental image of two students in wheel chairs left on the...

...stairwell landing two flights up while the remaining students and teachers and school guards and administrators leave for safety while a fire rages and firefighters take minutes to reach the site and waste precious time locating these abandoned children is horrible. Why can't two adults per wheelchair be assigned to lift and guide these wheelchairs with the children down the stairs and to safety? That must be done every day in a non-emergency fashion, would it not?

[revree]

8. These bastards are pure evil.

I have a child with CP. This is disgusting. I am really starting to hate our species...

[Ilsa]

12. I understand.

My oldest has autism, and the thought of him being abandoned because he is resistant to leaving makes me ill. It is even worse for your child, though.

I wish ADA covered schools. I guess it doesn't.

[KamaAina]

26. ADA most certainly does cover schools

Title II of ADA covers state and local government pograms and services.

Alas, these days, ADA is scarcely worth the paper it is printed on, because a certain evil dunce from Crawford, Tex. (who shall remain nameless :-) ) has been appointing judges right and left (mostly right) who don't believe in civil rights for anyone, including people with disabilities. :grr:

[phylny]

73. This is riduculous, and not the "common" solution.

Having worked at two different school districts in special education (SLP) I can tell you that we had MANY MANY safeguards in place, and practiced and discussed our plan to help ALL children out of the building, but especially those with special needs.

In fact, when we had a fire drill, and if a particular student was with me in speech instead of his class, I would find the designated safety officer (wearing a neon pink or neon yellow hat) who had a walkie talkie and tell them, "Let Mrs. Smith know that Jimmy is with me, in back of the school, and he is safe."

With regard to our children with autism, those who we knew would have difficulty with the sound of the alarm had people specifically assigned to them so that we could help them manage their distress.

I would think all schools could do this. Find out what YOUR district's policy is.

[canadianbeaver]

24. I am soooo hearing you.......n/t

[In Truth We Trust]

9. Must be compassionate conservatism at work

Fucking idiots! How bout having chairbound and the handicapped classes on the first floor only. Surely this can be accomplished!!!

[mbperrin]

90. This is exactly what is done at Odessa High here in west Texas.

Our enrollment exceeds 3200, and we have 27 students in wheelchairs. It was easy to do.

[htuttle]

10. Cab drivers get trained to transfer people in and out of wheelchairs

And to lift them up and down curbs and stairs. So do bus drivers and lots of other people in the service industry.

They can't train teachers to do this, too? Seems as though it should be a requirement nowdays. It's not that hard.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Sure they can train teachers

They could also train kids to do this. They are high schoolers. You know that there are some football players or wrestlers who would do this in a heart beat if they were asked.

[China_cat]

13. Why are kids in wheelchairs

on the second floor in the first place?

[Kadie]

20. Closer to the lunch room

snip...
Robin, Cassie and Tom all said they think the common sense solution is move their kids' classes to the first floor. They said they were told the second floor is best because it's closer to the lunchroom and therefore more convenient.

"He won't be late for lunch, but he'll burn if there's a fire," Robin said.

[China_cat]

36. I have a hard time with that

as I've never been in a school where the lunchroom/cafeteria has been anywhere but the ground floor, often doubling as a study hall, mini-auditorium, etc.

It doesn't make any sense for ANY of the kids to put it on the second floor. (Not saying that I don't believe it's there, just that it doesn't make sense.)

[LizW]

22. Because that's where their classes are

Under normal circumstances they go up and down in the elevator. But the elevator can't be used if there's a fire, so they can't use it during drills.

When classrooms are assigned it is not always known whether there will be wheelchair-bound students and in which classes. In my son's school, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are all on the second floor. There's no way for special needs students in those grades to be with their age group and not be on the second floor.

Of course it is unacceptable for any students to be left behind in an emergency evacuation, but it's not as easy a problem to solve as some think. Should teachers be required to carry the students downstairs? That's what my sister-in-law has done for years, but she teaches elementary age kids. For bigger kids, it could take two adults to make the transfer, and so arrangements have to be made for someone else to evacuate the rest of the students assigned to those teachers.

[phylny]

75. Because they have elevators in schools and can't prohibit

students from taking classes because of what floor it's on.

[China_cat]

84. Sorry, schools here are all 2 floors

at most and none have elevators.

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. My understanding is that this is standing procedure in most

public buildings.

Stairwells are supposed to have fireproof doors and a stairwell landing is the safest place for wheelchair users to be in the case of a fire. Maybe people could carry them down a flight or two, but how many untrained people could carry someone down three or more flights of stairs without a major risk of dropping them?

Abandoning the kids was dead wrong -- especially if dealing with kids, someone should have stayed with them. But keeping them in the stairwell till the FD showed up is good policy.

[htuttle]

17. True, if they are untrained

But I don't see any reason why teachers shouldn't be trained in handling wheelchairs. At least some of them should be, anyway.

[fob]

21. You mean like the teachers that had these kids in their classes?

Keep going around using common sense and you just may win a trip to gitmo in bush*s amerika.

/madness

[KamaAina]

25. It was standing procedure at the WTC

wheelchair users were supposed to be brought to a stairwell somewhere around the 25th floor and wait for rescue.

So much for that brilliant plan... :(

[msanthrope]

39. That was the first thought I had when I read this----

look at the "clusters" where people died in the WTC on 9/11. A big one: 25th floor, people in wheelchairs.

[LisaL]

60. That's true.

The disabled were supposed to be left for the firefighters to rescue them. Well, we all know how well that turned out.

[slackmaster]

30. It's standard procedure in every building I've ever worked in

Also all the buildings at the university I attended, and the public schools before that.

[LevelB]

62. The Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center

has 20,000 employees, and there is no policy to leave the disabled behind. Drills (and false alarms) ensure that most bugs are worked out ahead time (hopefully). I think a "bucket brigade" type system is used to safely remove disabled employees and visitors.

It is unbelievable that a school put a policy like this in place and then carried it out. I cannot imagine that I would have knowingly left a child in there alone.

B.

[malachi]

15. Um, wouldn't it make more sense to have all WB students located

in classrooms on the FIRST floor?

[Artemis Bunyon]

16. Pre-assign the strongest kids in class to help carry them down a flight.

I mean, rules, shmules. I would hope that's what would happen, regardless.

[barb162]

27. what if it endangers those two kids

[snooper2]

32. Yep, just like being the person sitting by the escape door on a plane

NT

[genieroze]

18. huh?

:wtf:

[tk2kewl]

23. Sounds "Pro-Life" to me

:eyes:

[GOPBasher]

28. Is this fascism yet??????

That's one DUer's screen name. I think it's very appropriate right now.

[KamaAina]

31. There are specially designed evacuation wheelchairs available

One such is described here:

http://www.evacutrac.com/

The Garaventa Evacu-Trac is a light-weight, compact and easy-to-use evacuation chair. The open sides of the Evacu-Trac are designed for people with limited mobility to transfer from their wheelchair to the Evacu-Trac without assistance. Once positioned in the Evacu-Trac, velcro straps are wrapped securely around the passenger's torso and lower legs. The passenger is then wheeled to the stairway for descent.

In the event of a fire or earthquake, elevators should not be used for emergency evacuation of a building. In this situation, people with limited mobility may be trapped or have to wait for a prolonged period of time in an area of refuge.

Of course, these chairs cost money, money that (in what passes for Bush**'s "mind", anyway) would be better spent on yet more standardized testing so his buddies can rake in some more windfall profits.

[One_Life_To_Give]

42. Use in a paniced stairway?

That device requires a non-impaired person to use, from what I see.
So we need a Calm non-mobility-impaired person to aid in it's use. Who without training is going to assist in bringing this awkward load down a crowded stairway filled with panicing people? What is the probability that someone crawling over the person fitted in the device will cause greater injury.

Do you really think firefighters so incapable that you are willing to take that risk?

[KamaAina]

46. Not incapable, but sometimes too late

just like at the WTC (see post #25) where many wheelchair users were waiting for rescue when the towers collapsed.

Perhaps the evacuation chair should go out either first or last, so as to avoid all those crawling panicking people.

[One_Life_To_Give]

47. WTC Plan would have used Elevators

In a building that tall I would have planned on using the elevators. Once I have a FireFighter in manual control of a modern elevator it is safe to use in many building fires. (From the Fireground Command Post the risk of using the elevator can be evaluated and communicated by radio.)

Also the WTC is a very unusual case. We can try to speculate if a "Stair Chair" (What we call the version carried by Emergency Services) would have allowed them to evacuate fast enough. And wether having the commercial version on the upper floors as opposed to the
version carried up.

My greater concern would be that in trying to design for the improbable. A situation would be created that would cause a larger loss of life over many common incidents.

[Lady Sonelle]

57. Are You A First Responder?

If so, allow Me to thank you (and all FRs)

Some years ago I was stricken with an illness which left Me paralysed and in agonising pain... in an upstairs Victorian flat. I was unable to do even so much as turn or stand for the few seconds it would require for a bed to chair transfer (I used to be a nurse) and I was utterly incapable of assisting in my own transfer from the second floor to the ambulance. I was also 200 lbs deadweight!

The EMTs carried Me down two flights of wooden stairs in a stair-chair and even in My pain and incapacity, I was impressed with the ease and safety with which they moved Me!

It took Me six months to recover, but I did, completely. I will never forget that horrible day and the kindness and consideration of the EMTs, nor the efficacy of the Stair-Chair device.

Lady Sonelle

[oneold1-4u]

33. Movement disabled

Not just wheelchair bound but any child with motion disability should be provided for in case of any emergency. Many years ago, multi-story schools had slides for emergency escapes and today they have huge collapsible ones for airplanes. What is wrong here!?
If their safety can not be provided for, then, they should not be there! Why is it that we can provide so much to foreign children in their native languages, in education, all over the nation and not provide needed safety for any crippled child?!
If we still had POLIO we would be adapting for millions!!!

[RaleighNCDUer]

53. I remember that. When I was in grade school my 4-story building

had those big, enclosed circular slides, and they made fire drills fun! Just had to have one teacher at the top, making sure the kids didn't crowd in too fast, and one at the bottom to make sure they didn't block the exit.

I don't know why they don't use them anymore, except most school designs limit themselves to two stories. And I can imagine, in a real emergency, what would happen if the bottom of the tube was closed and there were kids piling into the top, not knowing that the bottom was open (I seem to remember there was a hinged cover that could be locked, to keep anyone from getting into the building that way).

[caligirl]

34. school board member contact info posted here, I'm calling

to put the spot light on these people. They are suppose to treat these kids like all the others. Not separate and unequal. They must have a plan for emergencies for these kids.Heck, even court houses still don't have access to the courts for wheel chairs.

http://www.carr.lib.md.us/ccps/boe/members.htmGary W. Bauer, President
924 Century Street
Hampstead, Maryland 21074
410-239-8309
[e-mail]
Laura K. Rhodes, Vice-President
2554 Vance Drive
Mt. Airy, Maryland 21771
410-635-3262
[e-mail]
Cynthia L. Foley
423 Silver Run Valley Road
Westminster, Maryland 21158
410-857-0018
[e-mail]
Thomas G. Hiltz
1253 Hoods Mill Road
Woodbine, Maryland 21797
410-549-1438
[e-mail]
C. Scott Stone
2219 Harvey Gummel Road
Hampstead, Maryland 21074
410-239-3503
[e-mail]
Andrew C. McEvoy
Student Representative
2004 - 2005
Century High School
410-386-4400

[pop goes the weasel]

37. This is the general policy

Leave people in wheelchairs behind. Guess what? People in wheelchairs have other ideas about what should be done with them. However, they aren't asked. When public buildings are being planned, no one stops to bring in people with disabilities to ask what features would make the building safer and more usable on a daily basis. And it isn't a problem just for those in wheelchairs (please, people, don't use "wheelchair bound." Being bound is when you don't have a wheelchair but could use one.) People with other orthopedic difficulties, such as those of us who use canes or are ambulatory in braces, are rather stuck, too. There is no way I could make it down a fire escape or flight of stairs in the general crush of people fleeing. I'd have to wait for everyone else to leave first. And you know what? I would help anyone in a wheelchair out of it who wanted to, so that they could drag themselves down the stairs best they could. And I would do that because that's what we all (us people with mobility problems) have discussed doing.

But even at that, not all people can leave their wheelchairs and have any movement. And we've discussed this among ourselves too. For those who need to stay with their chairs, the issue becomes having a relatively safe place to wait. Someone else said that there are fire doors on landings. Guess what? Lots of buildings do not have fire escapes--just stairs. In one building I frequent, the "cripples wait here" sign is posted next to the elevator shaft! And it might as well be, because the entire building is a fire trap. So what of the quads who take classes or work there? They can't get down the stairs, and they don't have a safe place to wait for help.

Why am I telling you all this? Some of you are in a position to do something about this. If you are a building owner or manager, you need to have a committee of people with disabilities to provide you with on-going feedback from a disabilities viewpoint. When you arrange for evacuation drills, you have to work through getting people with disabilities out. Have some volunteers--disabled or not--agree to be taken down the stairs in the little device that is supposed to allow people who can't walk to be rolled down the stairs. If you don't have one of those things, get one. Have drills on its use. Have drills where those who choose to drag themselves down the stairs can practice doing that.

Do all this because I guarantee you that the only thing remarkable about what happened to those kids is that it was reported.

[One_Life_To_Give]

40. What if the bottom door/stairs becomes

blocked by advancing fire or falling debries. Won't this leave you trapped with no way to go but Up?

Also is it realistic to use any of these devices while others may be still trying to exit?

[bobbieinok]

88. after getting rheumatoid arthritis, then slipped disk, I learned how

hard it is to open the doors from the stair landing to the different floors...something I never thought of as a possible problem before

[One_Life_To_Give]

38. Standard Practice

As a former Firefighter and having worked in the FireMarshals office. THe safest plan is for those of us responding to know where these kids will be. It takes us almost no time to remove only two kids. And our first priority in any structure fire is Search and Rescue.

Asking untrained/Certified individuals to remove these kids from the building is inviting injury to the kids and a lawsuit for the school.

[Spinzonner]

45. I kind of thought so myself

but what do you do when the fire is at or near so that leaving them there is effectively putting them in the path of the fire or in some way putting them at equal/more risk than trying to move them.

Is having specially trained people, probably males in junior and senior high school - females might be OK for elementary for smaller students - trained and specifically assigned to be responsible for the evacuation of the wheel-chair bound reasonable when the risk is immenent ?

Nothing is risk free but aren't there issues of relative risk here ?

The issue of liability is real, which suggests they should not normally be evacuated as part of any regular drill. But perhaps there is the need for something like a 'Samaritan Law' in real emergencies for these cases.

[One_Life_To_Give]

50. I prefere a designated alternate location n/t

[Babette]

41. This is standard procedure... unfortunately....

During drills (or a real emergency) a kid's hearing can be damaged by the incredibly shrill alarm. Modern fire alarms are so loud and painful that they are designed to force students out of the building. The kid stuck in the stairwell has to risk hearing damage while sitting in the stairwell.

The stairwells are marked from the outside so firefighters know where to go first for rescue. I don't agree with the policy, but it's there.

[One_Life_To_Give]

44. Noise Levels - Clarification

Loud, Yes. They are not designed to force you out, but to insure that the worst case person can hear it.

e.g. In collage dormatories it has to wake up the drunks in their rooms behind locked doors. Located at the worst possible location compared to the horns.

[shrike]

43. Can't they just pick them up and carry them out?

Maybe I'm dumb, but to hell with the wheelchairs -- I know kids are heavy, but there must be someone in the school strong enough to carry them.

[slackmaster]

76. Some people in wheelchairs can be injured if not handled properly

It's not something an untrained person should attempt except in a dire emergency.

Now, three or four strong people picking up the disabled person wheelchair and all makes some sense.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

48. Good old rethuglican Carroll County...

Why didn't teachers scream about this policy a long time ago?

[Solly Mack]

49. That's fucked up

having stated the obvious..I'll now shake my head in disgust.

[Torque67]

51. Policy be damned.

I'd think that in a planned evacuation exercise, the best thing to do would be to leave the kids in the wheelchairs on the second floor, as policy states. In the event of an approaching fire, I couldn't see these kids being left there. I know there are some jerks out there, but most anyone I know wouldn't walk past a classmate stuck on the stairs, and would exert great effort in bringing them down. So, in the event of an actual and closing threat, policy be damned.

[Solly Mack]

52. I couldn't just leave anyone to die either

that's just wrong and cowardly

[Forkboy]

54. Why not just carry the kids out?

Wheelchairs can be replaced,the kids can't.

[LisaL]

61. I suspect because of fear of lawsuits.

In case you damage them as you carry them out.

[Forkboy]

65. Better damaged than burned up

But,I'm cynical enough to believe you're right.

what a world...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

55. An off-shoot of Bush's love for eugenics?

[ProfessorGAC]

56. That'll Teach 'Em For Not Walking Better!

Sheesh! They have wheelchair bound kids on the 2nd floor with no way to get them back down to ground level?!?!? Who was the genius that planned that "reasonable accommodation"? Seems it would have been "reasonable" to assure that all classes were on the ground floor if they had no way to bring them down safely in an emergency.

Fire the superintendent, the principal, and impeach the school board!
The Professor

[Horse with no Name]

58. As a nurse

I worked in a ventilator hospital where we had anywhere from 30-40 patients at a time on vents.
When we had power outages--which happen more than you would imagine--patients would have to be manually "bagged". Obviously there was not enough licensed personnel to do this, but housekeeping, dietary workers, maintenance, etc were all trained in bagging.
Assignments were made at the beginning of each shift of who would bag whom and it was posted in many areas of the hospital.
I can't imagine that making an assignment requiring 2 teachers each for 2 students to get them down into a safe area would be that difficult of a task.
At least I hope they have fire resistant doors to the stairwell.
Sheesh.

[One_Life_To_Give]

71. What about other duties

Problem with freeing up two teachers is protecting the other students. One fear with any incident like a fire alarm is the possibility that it is a diversion, to gain access to a child. Emergency proceedures have to take this into account as well.

[Horse with no Name]

78. Agreed

But it is possible to have a plan in place with a little bit of foresight to cover the protection of all children.

[nightwish_chick]

59. Terrible

This policy is stupid in my opinion. I wonder if this is something sinister that Bush would conjure up...it probably is.

[Trillo]

63. Now that's teaching, by example, some high-level responsibility. :( nt

[diamond14]

64. these kids need HIGH TECH wheelchairs (PHOTOS)

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/robots/toyoto-ifoot-and-iunit-026866.php

also known as "mechanized mobility suits"




this one gets you UP and DOWN stairs...you can lower it to a level that you like....



this one reclines for higher speeds....

[slackmaster]

77. The Japanese robotics engineers have a flair for futuristic innovations

Gotta love 'em.

[Stinky The Clown]

66. Westminster, MD - the Red part of "Blue" Maryland

Coincidence?

[buddysmellgood]

67. George Castanza must run the school board.

[Tight_rope]

68. WTF...This is just pathetic.

[Stinky The Clown]

69. There are special wheelchairs for several purposes - including evacuation

My work is designing commercial kitchens. When ADA came out, I did some research into how it might be applied to commercial kitchens. Application in the dining room was easy - substantially equal access. In the workplace (the kitchen) however, there is no such need - unless you have a wheel chaired employee.

Further, in the workplace, designing to accommodate people in wheelchairs would have had a hugely detrimental affect on the ability of non-differently-abled persons to work efficiently. I worked with a group who were advocating for the ADA to come up with a solution that we still use today. We provide a place to park and recharge a motorized "stand up" wheelchair. If a wheel chaired employee is hired, he would transfer from his personal chair to the motorized chair and be able to work in a normal kitchen. The special chair (about $10-15,000) would not need to be purchased until needed - just the space is provided at the outset. This solution has never been challenged in the hundreds of designs I've done over the last 15 or so years since ADA went into effect.



It seems to me that this school could purchase the needed number of folding "evacuation" wheel chairs. These chairs are designed to securely hold a person and have that person rolled down a flight of stairs by any normally abled person (without a need for much in the way of special training). I have no idea what these chairs cost, but they can't be much. They're made of, essentially, a tubular framework a sling seat, with four articulated wheels. What could it cost? $1000? $2000?

In a 2 or 3 story school building, this seems a reasonable solution.

But, I suppose, it would need to be vetted against NCLB. How do we test for this? What do we tell the children?

Hey, George Bush ..... Fuck You!


.... and blow your NCLB right out your ass.


<on edit> These chairs were linked in post #31, above
And here's a link to a standup chair:
http://www.permobil.com/templates/ProductPage.aspx?id=203

[NVMojo]

70. what???????

this is so fucked up!!!

[kodi]

72. having spent kindergarten & 1st grade in a wheel chair, that sux

.

[LifeDuringWartime]

74. wow

at our school, we have these sort of emergency sled-type things for people in wheel chairs. somebody helps them out of their chair, straps them to this thing and i dont know what happens after that.

[Don1]

83. SOP or no?

I checked with my wife, who is a teacher, on what her school's policy is for students in wheelchairs. She said that they have two types of fire drills: those which are planned (everyone knows it is coming) and those which are unplanned (only some teachers know it is coming). For the planned drills, students in wheelchairs are moved to the first floor before everyone else.

For unplanned drills, the students do report to a particular area. However, from there, para-professionals who work for the school move the students out in special evacuation chairs. There is no need to wait indefinitely for firefighters to move the children. Obviously, the policy which is followed during a real emergency is the same as the unplanned drill.

A couple of other things that she said: They had asked about some types of slides from the second floor (no funding). They discourage all kids in wheelchairs from taking classes above the first floor. The parents are the ones who specifically request that the children take specific classes above the first floor.

Now, I have to wonder why it is that some schools have policies in place to have para-professionals who have the training and authority to move these kids, while other schools have no such policies. What's the difference? Is it a funding issue? Is there some other reason? I have noted that there were a couple of people who posted here who work in areas where it is policy to leave these kids behind. I have to ask you (1) what evidence has been offered to show that the policy of leaving children behind is equally effective as moving the children out earlier? and (2) why has the region in which you work chosen not to use on-hand para-professionals to resolve the issue, is it because of finances?

[Acryliccalico]

79. This is really disgusting behavior

on the part of the high school. Is this the kind of thing we can expect in * (survival of the fittest) policies? What if the ones left behind had been killed? Love of life (as those who keep jumping on the abortion issue) often refer to unborn but what about the life after birth? Are humans less valuable once they are born or they get older? This sounds like a movie (Don't remember the tittle) where they systematically filtered those who were not (perfect) or young out of the population. No one, in this movie, cared about or noticed the ones removed. The population had no human sympathy or empathy. Is that were we are going?

[Bunny]

80. That is astounding.

I work with people with disabilities. When one of our computer guys, (who uses a wheelchair) worked in our building, he was assigned to the second floor. In the event of a fire, two of our staff had standing orders, at all times, to go and physically bring his chair backwards down the steps and get him out of the building. If it was necessary to abandon his chair and just carry him out, we would have done that also. It would be a cold day in hell before I would ever leave any person with a wheelchair abandoned in a stairwell. It's outrageous. Just outrageous.

[MadHound]

81. This is beyond words for me

Having worked with the disabled, and having been a firefighter, I know full well that it requires minimal training to lift and carry a disabled person safely and quickly, with or without a wheelchair. You've got a whole highschool full of strong youths, and I'm sure that if you trained an appropriate number of these kids, they could quickly and safely get their disabled classmates out of harm's way, and be happy to do so. This is just bad judgment on the part of the administration.

[DS1]

82. Heavy as those chairs may be, if I were a student on my way

past another student was stranded in the middle of a freakin stairwell during a fire I'd grab some other students and we'd carry the kid down the stairs.

It says a lot about this country when half a student body can simply walk past the ones who might not get saved because there's no "plan".

Jeez!

[Name removed]

85. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[d_b]

87. Leave no wheelchair behind!

[burn the bush]

91. that's standard policy at hospitals and nursing homes too

It is because the people who can walk can get out but will all be delayed behind wheelchairs or stretchers. So it is basically to get the most people out first. However, I remember at the hospitals, even though ambulating patients get out first, there is no leave them behind rule. In fact, the hospital staff is the last to vacate.
With only 2 wheelchair bound students, the rule is just stupid. It's not like there are hundreds or dozens in wheelchairs that would block the exits. As a parent, i think i might be kickin some school ass if they left my child behind even in a drill.