TYPES OF EVACUATION

Horizontal/Vertical evacuation is evacuation beyond corridor fire doors and/or smoke zones into an adjacent secure area.

Partial evacuation is evacuation of certain groups of patients and/or residents or evacuation of areas within a facility.

Complete evacuation is evacuation of an entire facility.

When evacuation procedures begin, they should be implemented at the lowest possible level to have the least impact on a facility. As the situation escalates, the level of evacuation can escalate as needed.

If smoke is seen in a wing, patients should be horizontally evacuated out of the wing into a smoke-safe room. Once the source of the smoke is found, the decision can be made to continue evacuation efforts with a partial or full evacuation (in the event of a fire). If the smoke was from something minor, the situation can be controlled and corrected and patients can be returned to their rooms or taken to another part of the facility, if it is going to take time to correct the situation.