FEMA 453 Design Guidance for Shelters and Safe Rooms

the 2006 editions of nFPa 101,
Life Safety Code and nFPa 000,
Building Construction and Safety
Code addressed the issue of counterflow
between first responders and
descending occupants. the new
provisions mandate a minimum stair
width of 6 inches (1,420 mm) when
a stair is designed to handle an
aggregate or accumulated of 2,000
or more occupants. Previous criteria
required 44 inches (1,120 mm)
minimum.
m Evacuation routes and emergency exits should be:
m wide enough to accommodate the number of evacuating
personnel.
m clear and unobstructed at all times.
m unlikely to expose evacuating personnel to additional
hazards.
m Evacuation routes should be evaluated by a professional.
It is also important to designate assembly areas
and a means of obtaining an accurate account of
personnel after a site evacuation. Designate areas
where personnel should gather after evacuating
(see Section 1.10). A head count should be taken
after the evacuation. The names and last known
locations of personnel not accounted for should
be determined and given to the Emergency Operations
Coordinator (EOC). (Confusion in the
assembly areas can lead to unnecessary and dangerous
search and rescue operations.) A method
for accounting for non-employees (e.g., suppliers
and customers) should also be established.
In addition, procedures should be established for further evacuation
in case the incident expands. This may consist of sending
employees home by normal means or providing them with transportation
to an off-site location.
1.10 KeY oPerations Zones
Key operations zones refer to the shelter site surrounding areas
and entry and exit control points that need to be taken into consideration
when designing a shelter.
For catastrophic incidents depicted in the planning scenarios
related to the National Response Plan - Catastrophic Incident
Supplement (NRP-CIS), decontamination involves several
1- 0 design considerations