Dear colleagues,

State legislation requires that all Wayne State University staff are trained in fire evacuation procedures at the beginning of each academic year. Instructional staff includes full and part-time faculty, assistant and associate professors of teaching, graduate teaching assistants, and teaching assistants.

This email outlines what you should know if a fire evacuation scenario occurs in a building while you are teaching a class. Please review this carefully and make sure you are familiar with all provisions:

Prior to a fire emergency, preferably at the beginning of an academic semester, the instructor should consult the building’s evacuation signs to determine the location of exits, stairwells, areas of refuge, areas of rescue and outside assembly areas.
Upon actuation of a fire alarm, or if fire conditions become apparent, instructors should ensure that all students immediately evacuate the classroom and building via the nearest available exit.
Instructors should accompany their class to the predetermined outside assembly area. Always use the stairwells to evacuate. Do not use elevators.
Once in the stairwell, the instructor should check to see that the door is closed and proceed down to the first level and out the exit.
Gather at the outside assembly area. Do not allow students to re-enter the building until the Wayne State University Police Department (WSUPD) or the fire department confirm that it is safe to do so.
For all fire alarm scenarios, the instructor should assist any mobility impaired/disabled students. If a mobility impaired/disabled student cannot self-evacuate — such as a student in a wheelchair who cannot be taken down the stairs — or cannot be evacuated without personal danger to the instructor, the instructor should assist the student to the nearest stairwell, where they can await evacuation by first responders. The instructor should inform the student that he or she will inform first responders of the student’s location in the building.
Area of rescue call stations are located in the elevator lobbies of certain classroom buildings, e.g., Mike Ilitch School of Business and the STEM Innovation Learning Center. These locations have direct contact with WSUPD.
When first responders arrive, the instructor should immediately notify them of where any mobility impaired/disabled students are located.

If you have any questions about these procedures, please contact William Kemp in Enterprise Risk Management & Insurance Programs by calling 313-577-3110 or emailing william.kemp@wayne.edu.

Sincerely,

Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs