Evacuation Procedure

We have recently updated the Evacuation route maps - Please insure you review these with your classes and staff.

Building Evacuation

Building evacuation procedures would include the following:

1. When you hear a fire alarm – LEAVE the building immediately closing all doors behind you.
2. Follow the main evacuation routes which are primarily the staircases located throughout the buildings, and then proceed to the South parking lot.
3. If you must evacuate through smoke, get low to the floor and crawl. Heat and deadly smoke rise and cleaner air will be 12-24 inches above the floor.
4. If you must open doors while evacuating, test the door before opening. Use the back of your hand to touch the door, the doorknob and door frame. If they are hot, do not open the door. If they are cool, brace yourself against the door and slowly open it. If smoke and heat are present, close the door and use an alternate route.
5. Use stairways, never an elevator. In a fire, elevator shafts may fill with smoke or the power may go out leaving you trapped.
6. Once outside, assemble at the South parking lot located next to the STEM building and do not return to the building until the Fire Department or University Police Department have indicated the building is safe to re-enter. Department managers will conduct a head count of their personnel to ensure everyone is accounted for in the parking lot. If anyone is noticed missing please advise U.P.D. or fire personnel as soon as possible.
7. If you are trapped, try to stay as calm as possible. Try to get to a room with an outside window and a telephone. Call 911 and give them your exact location. If there is no phone, wave an object out the window to signal for help. Keep all doors between you and the fire closed. Cover all vents and seal cracks around the door to keep out smoke. Be as calm and patient as possible. Rescue personnel will arrive to assist you.

Evacuation Assistance

Any person who cannot walk down stairs will be directed to the northeast stairwell of each floor in the University Center; the southeast stairwell in the Science and Technology building; and the east or west stairwells in the BLV dorm. Emergency Response Team members serve as floor monitors and will assist those requiring help to the appropriate interior stairwell. The BLV resident assistants will serve as floor monitors in the dorm and provide this assistance for dorm students and/or visitors. Once in the interior stairwell the Emergency Response Team member will call or radio the University Police Department and give their location and how many persons are in the stairwell with them. They will stay there until emergency responders arrive and assist them out of the building. The interior stairwells have sprinklers and should be safe until emergency assistance arrives.