Hi Rosie,
I'm not sure if the person is in 2 storey accommodation, though I assume it is ground floor level access.
Your local fire authority may come out to advise on this matter if requested
Rather than use an O/T, you may be able to source specific manual handling training to advise on emergency lifts -most states in Australia recommend a 'no lift' policy, so it really does also depend on the service provider's policies too. However, there may be dispensations for emergency evacuation and you may be able to then use either an evacuation lift , or moving the person horizontally in a wheelchair to a safer place in the building. I believe that 'evacuation chairs' and 'evacuation mattresses' are also available (you'd need to check if this is i) funded by NDIS, ii) a personal cost to the participant, or iii) an organisation cost. Alternatively, if the person is in a hospital bed, you may be able to put the bed on the lowest setting and move the person to a sheet and drag them.You may also wish to review manual handling policies to have them amended to include any exceptions in emergencies, eg if your org. automatically identifies that ALL clients are a 2 person lift, can this be reasonably amended in an emergency situation.
If your organisation requires for fire risk assessments to be routinely completed - and I would otherwise recommend this an option-you can do a specific emergency evacuation plan for each participant. Sometimes, this may (unfortunately) include that clients are left in their rooms with the door shut, and the fire service is alerted to this. Routinely, the fire service usually indicates that 'ambulant' clients are evacuated first 9to get more people out/reduce the risk for a higher number of people) and then evacuate people with more complex needs if safe to do so.
If your team haven't already undertaken fire training, including evacuation procedures, I would strongly encourage this
Kind regards,
Paula
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Paula Roberts
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