Fire drills and emergency situations for students is a task that needs to be practiced to help public safety in knowing what to do in a real situation and how to handle the incident if occurs on Cabrini’s campus. This is especially important for those students with mobility issues.
“In a fire drill the most important thing is you need to evacuate the building,” Creig Doyle, director of public safety at Cabrini College, said. “If you can’t do it by yourself and you need some help then it’s up to us to figure out what that looks like.”
Students who have any physical challenges and need use of a wheelchair, walker or cane are recognized and should feel safe while on Cabrini’s campus. The Disability Resource Center (DRC) is one of the departments at the college that work every day to make sure that students with a physical disability receive the accessibility that they need.
In the situation of an actual fire where a student may need help exiting the building there are procedures. After being asked if they would like to be carried, the next question would be to ask how would they liked to be carried? There are a few ways to carry someone in the given situation. One is the fireman carry one person under each arm and if the person is able to walk to an extent then there are the support railings there that he or she is able to grab a hold of.
Recently, Director of the DRC, Kathy Johnson, talked with a student who uses a wheelchair and was experiencing some fear during a fire drill last week. “Part of my conversation with the student was reassuring him that the college will keep him safe as we would with any student. If needed, we would carry him out of the building and make sure that is okay,” Johnson said. Cabrini will provide safety measures for any student on campus, whether they have a disability or not.
Anyone who is disabled is encouraged to talk to their peers around them to let them know that in case of a drill they would need help exiting the building.
Public safety’s office is being renovated and what it will include, in time to follow, is a handicap accessible ramp and new door to accommodate those in need. Stair chairs are also being talked about in order help physically disabled students.
Fire drills for all the houses and dorms are practiced annually in the fall and spring.
Johnson says that one of the office’s main jobs is to limit the amount of problems that students with a physical disability may have while navigating on campus. “I am always looking around the campus to make sure that it’s safe,” Johnson said, “We try to make sure that campus is accessible, which means that, can students or anyone who comes to campus with a physical disability navigate the campus safely?” This includes making sure that all doors are able to open automatically, that the door openers are not blocked and that there are ramps available at each building on campus.
According to Johnson, there are currently five students that she is aware of that have various degrees of a physical disability. Students that either use a wheelchair, walker, or are visually and/or hearing impaired.
Grace hall, one of the main buildings on campus is not accessible seeing that it does not have an elevator. If students need to meet with a professor in their office, the professor must come down to the first floor.
Other accessibility issues arise with the lack of sidewalks on some parts of campus. “That’s a concern and something we’re aware of and working on,” Johnson said.
When it comes to emergency situations, students with a physical challenge can experience serious anxiety worrying if they will make it out okay. “The college is very good about meeting the guidelines for getting people out of the building and to be safe,” Johnson said, “The drill situation can create some fear for students.”
Pertaining to dorm life, if students who need to have a room on the first floor will be assigned accordingly to a room with handicap accessible bathrooms and showers.
The DRC makes sure that every student with a disability is allowed to participate and attend any event safely just as anyone else. “For students with a physical disability, we want college to be an experience that is just as enjoyable and accessible for anyone that attends here,” Johnson said.
