EMU Fire Safety for the Disabled

Shane Coleman goes up to the fourth floor to get to his computer classes in Pray-Harrold. He completes his work on time to get closer to a degree in graphic design. But as Coleman focuses on his future, he has thoughts about his safety, as all college students do these days. But his concerns are specific to the issue of what to do in case of a fire.

For most, what to do in a fire is a no-brainer: Get out and get to safety. This is no easy task for Coleman, because of his wheelchair.

Eastern Michigan University’s fire safety plan calls for the disabled student to reach the nearest stairwell and wait for a fellow EMU Eagle to carry him or her to safety, according to the EMU Public Safety Web page.

Coleman said there was no one in his classes that could lift him. He also said it was a problem because he would not know what to do if no help was available. The Students with Disabilities Office never told me what to do and that is troubling, he said.

Coleman is a junior who has cerebral palsy. He uses an electric wheelchair for mobility purposes. This is because Coleman’s brain does not function properly. His muscles are constricted to the point he cannot walk. And because of mobility issues, Coleman has brought attention to fire safety for the disabled in EMU classrooms and buildings.

Every year college and university students experience a growing number of fire-related injuries. There are several causes for these injuries and most are due to a general lack of knowledge about fire safety, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

And that general lack of knowledge is pervasive across the EMU campus. Not only are students such as Coleman, one of the 400 disabled students known to be on campus – according to the statistics from the SWDO – unaware of what the existing policy is, but the staff itself is unclear on what is necessary.

“This is something we’ve never really talked about until now,” admitted Dr. Adam Meyer, SWDO, who has been in charge for two months. Although Meyer concedes that the office is in a transition period, he said he has many ideas and long term solutions for safety in the classroom and buildings.

“The department needs to think about safety before it becomes a problem,” Meyer said. “It is important for the student and the professor to have a dialogue about classroom or building issues. If a student were uncomfortable in doing so, someone in the department could intercede on his or her behalf.”

“Relying on a fellow student to help me during a fire may not be feasible,” said Michael Blizman, who graduated from EMU in 1995 and who is a wheelchair-user.

“I lived in Best Hall and that is where the football players lived, so they could have helped me, I guess,” Blizman said. “But I admit that this would have been a concern had I thought about it. I’m not a small guy.”

EMU’s fire policy is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Section III states all disabled people must be treated fairly in public places. This means a building must meet architectural standards that allow physical access, along with reasonable modifications to policies, practices and procedures, effective communication with people with disabilities and other access requirements.

Kevin Abbasse, a retired fire marshal in the city of Kentwood, is EMU’s principal plant engineer and is in charge of making sure that campus buildings are structurally sound and compliant with ADA guidelines. He is able to draw upon his experience in this area to ensure that students have a clear, unobstructed path to safety.

If a student is on the ground floor, he or she could exit the classroom without a problem, Abbasse said. He also said all buildings have areas of refuge on every floor where a disabled student would wait for emergency services to arrive and take the individual to safety.

According to a Chicago Tribune article, area university student Jonathan Ko – a quadriplegic – was in bed during a fire drill, and had no plan of escape. If it were a genuine fire, there would have been no way to determine that Ko was stuck. Within days of this incident, a red marker was placed in his window in an effort to alert authorities to his whereabouts in the event that rescue is required.

Stories like that of Ko are not lost in the shuffle. Ypsilanti City Fire Department Captain Dan Cain, a 23-year veteran, is always thinking about wheelchair using students during a fire.

“With only five firefighters, it is important to know where the disabled are located,” Cain said. “The wheelchair user always needs more help, so we must get to him or her as quickly as possible.”

In 2006, after the Ko incident was broken by the Tribune, the US Department of Justice really began cracking down on ADA violations, specifically on college campuses. This has left the University of Chicago and more than 10 other universities – including the University of Michigan – reeling with how to adapt, which has been a slow process in some cases. Adaptations would include the cost of retrofitting buildings, as well as revamping everything from parking to emergency plans.

"The Justice Department is sending a very strong shot across the bow of American higher education, from community colleges to major research universities, that they are serious about the enforcement of ADA," said Sheldon Steinbach, who is general counsel for the Washington, D.C.-based American Council on Education. He said it could be extraordinarily expensive to comply with what the Justice Department wants.

EMU is, again, not in violation of the ADA. This was never the issue. The issue has always been the lack of knowledge of the proper evacuation procedures.

Time and again, responses to queries on this matter ranged from “I don’t know” to “I don’t make up policy.” In a reiteration of an earlier interview with staff of the SWDO, Assistant Director Dr. Silva Goncalves said, “I’ve honestly never thought about this, and I need to bring this up with someone.”

Detailed in the EMU fire log, there was a relatively small fire in a trashcan located in the Halle Library on Sept. 9, 2009. While it was just described as a smoldering can, it could have been worse.

It could have been another Sherzer Hall.

On March 9, 1989, a massive fire gutted 50 percent of Sherzer Hall. It remains one of the most devastating events in the university's history.

The point is, fires are a fact of campus life. As a postscript to this story, Meyer stated that in January 2010, a committee would be formed to work in conjunction with Emergency Management Director Mark Wesley.

Wesley works in emergency management at the university. The program is responsible for keeping and creating plans that help students and faculty remain safe on campus. Wesley accomplishes this by working with other safety departments within EMU.

Because Wesley works with many officials on campus, Meyer’s meeting January 2010 is going to be covering the majority of disabled safety issues at EMU.

“We are going to evaluate current safety plans and also go around the university to find ways to improve life for the disabled, “Meyer said. “It will also give us a chance to discuss things that have never been brought up at the university. The meeting is even going to deal with fire safety issues in the classroom and buildings, which is something the SWDO needs be more aware of.”

A demo of the tools that could be used during a fire. This is not an advertisement.