Disasters happen. Planning and preparation are the keys to being as safe as possible in an emergency. UC Merced is committed to the safety of all of its students, staff, faculty, and visitors with and without disabilities.
Visit Emergency Preparedness to review guidelines to assist evacuating people with physical disabilities.
Individual Evacuation Plans
Those who live, work, or attend classes on campus are encouraged to develop an evacuation plan. Students and employees may request an individualized assessment of their emergency preparedness needs for times when they are on campus.
Individualized assessments may cover:
- review of evacuation options for each building you occupy and/or visit
- determine an Area of Refuge or Evacuation Waiting Area
- review location of evacuation chairs of specific buildings, accessible routes, and Assembly Areas once outside of a building
- identify a volunteer who will be responsible for communicating with emergency services on your behalf during a building evacuation
- scripting instructions for those assisting you during evacuation
- itemizing what is needed in an emergency go-bag
- setting up emergency notifications
To request an individualized evacuation plan, students should reach out to Student Accessibility Services, while employees are encouraged to contact Disability Management Services.
Emergency Evacuation
Faculty, staff, students, and visitors who may have difficulty exiting during a building evacuation are encouraged to consider these options in advance of spending time at a University location to prepare for building emergencies and evacuations, including fire drills.
In the event of an emergency
- When the building alarm system is activated or an emergency occurs requiring evacuation, you should evacuate if able to do so.
- If you are unable to exit the building, locate an Area of Refuge or designated Evacuation Waiting Area (if available), or stay in place.
- Call 9-1-1 to inform emergency services of your location.
- If a volunteer assists you in reaching an Area of Refuge or Evacuation Waiting Area, the volunteer should go to the Evacuation Assembly Point and report your location and status to emergency services.
Evacuation Options
Below are five evacuation options listed in order of safety:
- Exit the building (safest option): Use accessible routes to exit the building if the route appears safe. Note that the accessible route may not always be the nearest exit.
- Move to a safer part of the building: In large buildings and multi-wing complexes, you may be able to safely evacuate to an unaffected wing or area where the alarm is not sounding.
- Move to an Area of Refuge: Areas of Refuge are equipped with two-way communications with the UCM Police Department.
- Use an assisted evacuation device: An assisted evacuation device, such as a specially designed chair, can be used by trained personnel to evacuate people with mobility disabilities. These are not common.
- Stay in place (least safe option): It may be appropriate for an individual who is unable to exit the building to stay in place in the following areas:
- A building stairwell that has a large landing; wait near the exit stairwell until everyone has evacuated the floor and traffic has cleared before entering the stairwell.
- Enclosed elevator lobbies
- Fire-rated exit corridors, especially when close to an exit.
- An enclosed room with an exterior window, a telephone, and a solid or fire-resistant door; with this option, you may keep in contact with emergency services by dialing 9-1-1 and reporting your location directly. Emergency services will relay this location to on-site emergency personnel who will determine the need for evacuation. Elevators can be unsafe to use in an emergency; in most buildings they are automatically recalled to the ground floor. Emergency personnel can override the elevator functions and use them to assist with evacuation.
