Emergency Evacuation Preparedness: Taking Responsibility For Your Safety A Guide For People with Disabilities and Other Activity Limitations

Permanently Installed Systems

There are several types of controlled descent devices that can be permanently installed within stairways. In some, the individual transfers from a wheelchair to the portable controlled descent chair. These chairs are designed to travel down stairs on tracks with friction braking systems, rollers or other devices to control the speed of descent.

Another type of controlled descent device is designed so the wheelchair user rolls onto the transport device and the wheelchair is secured to the device.  Wheelchair users do not have to transfer from their wheelchairs. The wheelchair lift is a motor‑driven device that installs in a stairway. Vertical wheelchair lifts are differentiated from elevators because they are limited in the height of their vertical lift, are not enclosed, and do not go through a floor level. These lifts were originally intended for private residences, but are now being used in assisted living facilities, nursing homes, churches and public buildings. (FEMA 2001)