Friday, December 5, 2008

Think About It

Planning saves lives.....should the fire suppression failed to mitigate fire, tall building should have evacuation plan to handle even the worst-case scenarios and be able to evacuate all occupants, including the less fortunate, adopting the broad definition of "nobody left behind".

In the event of the worst conceivable scenario that caould happen to tall structures, how do you...

1) How do you empty the total building population of a high-rise in the shortest possible time and reduce risks for fire fighters?

2) How do you get those people with physical disablities down quickly and with minimun assistance in the absence of lift and elevator for egress?

3) How do you increase the egress capacity of a tall building that is designed for phased evacuation to facilitate simultaneous evacuations?

4) How do you escape from the upper floor when staircases are damaged and not accessible?

5) How do you provide additional emergency exit(s) or increase the size of existing stairways for mass rapid evacuation where it is not possible due to building structure?