Register Today for ANSI HSSP Workshop on Emergency Evacuation Operations for Persons with Disabilities

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Homeland Security Standards Panel (HSSP) has released the agenda for the final workshop in its summer series on emergency preparedness for persons with special needs. Stakeholders are encouraged to register today for this event, which centers on emergency evacuation operations.

In February 2009 the ANSI-HSSP, in collaboration with the National Organization on Disability (NOD) Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI) and the NFPA Disability Access Review and Advisory Committee (DARAC), held a workshop to examine existing and needed standards for emergency preparedness for persons with disabilities and special needs in both the built environment as well as for evacuation operations. The final workshop report issued in May 2009 is available for public review. [see related news item]

ANSI-HSSP is now launching a Phase II series of three separate issue-driven workshops related to this topic. The first two workshops in the series address accessibility codes and standards, and standards for products and assistive devices.

The final workshop in the series, Emergency Evacuation Operations, will take place on June 17, 2010, at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans, LA. The scope of this workshop is standards development for emergency planning and contingencies for the evacuation needs and concerns of persons with disabilities. This includes localized building evacuations as well as widespread evacuation.

The purpose of this workshop is to help stakeholders identify and consider the particular planning, preparation, and procedural needs of all individuals, including the disability community, when looking at evacuation/relocation scenarios for all-hazard events such as building fires, wild-land fires, hurricanes, tornados, floods, and other natural and human-caused events. Methods and recommendations to codify the types of information necessary to establish a robust and encompassing plan will be outlined.

A follow-up report on these workshops will be posted to ANSI's news page when it becomes available.

Attendance is free of charge, but all attendees must register by June 9, 2010. Click here to register. Questions on these workshops can be directed to Jessica Carl ([email protected], 212.642.4903).

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ANSI-HSSP sponsorship opportunities are now available to demonstrate your support and publicize your organization's commitment to homeland security standards efforts through promotional materials, signage, banner ads, and more. Click here for more information.