Hi Michelle

the advice from our fire service is that school must have a plan to evacuate all children from the building and leaving them at a refuge point is not an option.

Therefore schools must have enough evac chairs to evacuate all children in wheelchairs - bearing in mind that once they get to the bottom they will still need to use the evac chair to get them out of the building.

I have done training for a child who is in a power chair and sits in a comfort sling.  We have advised that she waits in the refuge point for staff who have had manual handling training (4 - 1 on each corner)  to come and physically lift her out of her chair using the sling  and put her onto an escape sledge which is then slid down the stairs and out of the building.  Needless to say the school do not do this with the student during practice situation.

There is some kit (long handles) you can get which attaches to manual wheelchairs and allows you to lower them down but I guess it would depend of the weight of the child you were getting down the stairs.

This is an issue which needs addressing in many schools.

Lifts cannot be used in the event of a fire.

Every pupil with limited mobility, particularly those who cannot use stairs safely, independently, should have a PEEP (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan)

The plan should specify who has to do what for the pupil to safely evacuate or be evacuated in the event of a fire if they are:

1. on the ground floor

2. upstairs

Similarly those with HI/VI need a PEEP. Some ASD pupils might also need a PEEP.

The plans need to show how the needs pf the pupil were identified. What procedures are in place, who is responsible etc.

If the pupil would normally go to a central place to register, where will they now register - how will this be passed on to the fire Marshall?

Plans should include where the fire refuges are and where the pupil should therefore go to await evacuation.

Lots of online resources for this as each pupil needs to be assessed.

Evac chairs are far from being a panacea. Many wheelchair users can't safely self transfer from their chair to the evac chair. Given this, they pupil has to be transferred by staff which will require specialist equipment such as a sling. Evac chairs provide very limited support so for some wheelchair users are unsafe.

Consider should the pupil be transferred by sling to the evac chair or is it better to use a carry sling with 4 staff members and just carry them out?

The lack of a wheelchair is not something that can be well overcome for pupils with highly adapted seating systems, for a standard chair most schools could have some spares to deal with injuries.

We plan that pupils, above the first floor who cannot come down the stairs on their own, will wait with staff in a designated safe place. If the fire is in their building then the Fire Marshall will arrange their evacuation, if not they will stay where they are as this would be the safest option.

The fire brigade are informed of the location of refuge and will in the event of a fire be told which pupils, if any, are in which refuge.

If a school cannot provide suitable safe place to wait then i would say all lessons for that pupil should be on the ground floor.

Hi Michelle,

We have a resource base in a secondary school and have the same issue. We tried to solve it by trying to get the secondary school staff to timetable the w/c users downstairs or different parts of the building. This this affected Science which could be moved as there are labs upstairs and downstairs. It also affected D and T and ICT, but there was limited teaching rooms for these subjects downstairs. This hasn't been possible for all lessons but we still request it and if it possible classrooms can be changed is the ideal

It is a bit of a mine field when you start to unpick it. It is the schools responsibility to make sure everyone is safe so need to get everyone together to solve it. We talked to the schools Health and Safety officer and the Head teacher about this. We also took advice from an Independent Health and Safety advisor, who looked at individual buildings and advised based on a site assessment and get written advice for the PEEP.  We also have Refuge points up stairs we can use.

One school I visit has a smaller portable w/c in place at the bottom of the stairs so the YP has somewhere to sit once they have been brought downstairs in the Evac chair as the YP is able to weight bear and transfer.

Hi Michelle,

This was a huge concern for me after the Glenfell fire.  I have worked with our LA - H & S team and fire service to write a guidance for schools on evacuation for pupils with medical and physical needs including sensory loss and social emotional needs, which includes a PEEP form. Regulations state building owners must ensure they have plans in place to get everyone out of the building and some schools are not aware of this which is why we wrote the guidance. It is important to get the H&S team and fire service on board as everyone needs to be giving the same message.

The guidance states that it is up to the school/building owners to "look at the worst case scenario" where they may need to evacuate the building if there was a real fire, they have to ensure all pupils and staff can be taken out - we would expect schools to do whatever is necessary to ensure the pupil can be taken out of the building in hopefully what would be a "one off situation". I work with the schools to look at individual needs and equipment requirements - there will be wheelchair user pupils who as a "one off" in an emergency may be able to be walked down the stairs with support of staff or who could bum shuffle down if required - the pupil's physio or OT can offer advice around this. For those who would not be able to do that the evac chair and possibly a promove sling to get them into the evac chair is a possibility. School may also need to consider physically having to carry the pupil out as a last resort and  again as a "one off in an emergency" this can be documented in the PEEP, clearly stating how many staff will be required and how it will be done. It is about taking a sensible realistic approach and during my discussions with schools staff have often said " if necessary we will just carry the pupil out" I don't think anyone would leave a pupil in the building if it was burning down.

There are also safety systems in schools - especially in new builds which can offer additional protection that schools can add to the PEEP as part of the measures already in place such as sprinkler systems, fire doors etc.

The guidance also clarifies the use of refuge points - a safe area that can be accessed and should be used as a place to plan the next move - establish where the fire is and whether it is safe to stay there if the fire is in another part of the school or to work out how to get the pupil out.

I am happy to share our LA guidance if you want to drop me an email - gurby.sandhu@durham.gov.uk

Gurby

Gurby