Evacuation Chairs | Mobile Stair Lifts | Stair Chair | EMS EVAC | Emergency Evacuation Stair Chair

What is an Emergency Evacuation?

An emergency evacuation is the urgent and immediate movement of people away from the actual occurrence or threat of a hazard. They can range from small scale evacuations to large scale evacuations of an area or building. Natural disaster evacuations can be caused by volcano eruptions, cyclones, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, or a bushfire. Industrial accident evacuations can be initiated from a chemical spill or a nuclear accident. Military attack evacuations can be caused by bombings, terrorist attacks, or military battles. Other evacuations can be from major traffic accidents, fire, structural failure, or a viral outbreak.

What is an Emergency Evacuation Stair Chair?

An emergency evacuation stair chair is a universal solution for a smooth stairway descent during an emergency. Since it can be operated by a single user, no heavy lifting or manual handling is required during emergency evacuation procedures. In the event of an emergency, elevators should not be used in multistory buildings. Therefore, those with a disability or who are injured may become trapped. The evacuation stair chair is light weight and easy to use, and glides effortlessly down stairways to assist with the quick and safe removal of those who are mobility impaired.

What Should I Look for in an Evacuation Chair?

An evacuation chair should be easy to set up. It shouldn’t have any tricky release mechanisms to trap the operator’s fingers or hands, or no need to balance the chair while releasing buckles or straps when it is occupied. It should be lightweight so it can be carried to the person needing help. An evacuation chair must be designed to help the transfer of the immobile person from a wheelchair into the evacuation chair. It must be stable, open on both sides for easy access, and provide passenger safety at all times.

The evacuation chair should be maneuverable. No extra physical exertion should be needed and a good turning circle is required to get around difficult landings and corners. The speed of descent should be quick. The chair should be able to achieve two flights of stairs in seconds, and four floors in a minute or two. It should be compact enough so it does not block the stairs for other users. The chair additionally needs to have a controllable speed for the user.

Rehabmart is pleased to offer emergency evacuation stair chairs from our innovative vendor, Ferno-Washington.

Mike Price, OT
Rehabmart Co-Founder & CTO

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