Evacuation Chairs Australia

RECENTLY, Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo commented about making sensitivity “part of our culture, part of our value system in Singapore” at an event involving the disabled community.

I could not agree with him more.

The key is to act and do something positive, either to give a helping hand to a disabled person or to develop a more stable and elaborate national system to ensure a good level of accessibility for all.

There are two areas that need urgent attention: Emergency evacuations and accessibility.

In June, the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) conducted an emergency drill at the SPD Ability Centre, a purpose-built facility with ramps running from the roof to the first floor. Despite having over 100 wheelchair users, the drill went smoothly.

A week later, a flash fire at a power station forced occupants to evacuate from a major commercial building.

Not long ago, the collapse of a joining road also triggered the evacuation of a new commercial centre and, further back, a major earthquake in Indonesia shocked our island so much that even a new building in Shenton Way was evacuated.

It is easy to put in place preventive and quick measures (water sprinklers and fire hydrants), but the reality is that buildings will need to be evacuated in times of emergency.

Thus, the “sensitivity” is how to evacuate the elderly and people with disabilities.

This concern goes beyond commercial buildings to include hospitals (especially those with multiple floors), residential/community health facilities and even HDB flats.

Though much effort has been made for lifts to land on every floor to ensure better accessibility for disabled people and the elderly, what happens during an emergency? There is a need to re-evaluate the concept of not using lifts in emergencies.

Once power is cut off, lifts are programmed automatically to home to the ground floor when an emergency is activated regardless of the nature.