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Environmental & Risk Management / Emergency Preparedness / First Responders

First Responders

As a first responder, you respond to all types of emergencies -- fire, flood, crime, spills-- at a building. Knowing the location on each floor of employee emergency exit routes will help you better lead people to safety and respond to the emergency. Similarly, if the site contains hazardous materials, it is vital that as a first responder you know exactly where these materials are located so that you enter the building with a clear understanding of its potential dangers.

Often, facility managers will have previously supplied first responders with a Web URL so that while en route to the building you can access and review the company's egress routes, hazardous material plans, equipment plans, and other building information. If a Web URL has not previously been supplied, the building's emergency response team can supply it at the time of your arrival and you can use a laptop to review this information before entering the building.

Egress Plans

Egress (exit) plans are critical to ensure that all building occupants are able to escape the facility during an emergency. Egress plans typically consist of large, extended arrows that map the most direct route to the nearest means of egress on each floor. First responders use these plans to know how the clearest way to lead building occupants to safety.

To view a floor's egress plan:

  1. On the Process Navigator, select First Responders and then View Egress Route.
  2. The system lists the buildings and floors in the left panes. Select a building from the top left pane, and then select a floor within this building.
  3. The system displays the floor plan drawing, with egress information, in the right pane.
  4. Beneath the drawing, the system displays key exit route information.

Hazardous Material Plans

As a first responder, you need to know the location and type of hazardous materials stored at the facility. If a fire or spill reaches hazardous material (HAZMAT), the severity and scope of the initial problem automatically increases, putting emergency response personnel in danger and increasing damage to the facility.

If before entering the building, you consult an accurate hazardous material plan, you can better plan how to tackle the problem at hand and minimize the loss of life and property.

To view a floor's HAZMAT plan:

  1. On the Process Navigator, select First Responders and then select View Hazardous Material Plan.
  2. The system lists the buildings and floors in the left panes. Select a building from the top left pane, and then select a floor within this building.
  3. The system displays the floor plan drawing, with HAZMAT information, in the right pane.
  4. Beneath the drawing, the system displays key data about each HAZMAT zone.

Building Zones, Room Plans, and Equipment Plans

In emergency situations,you can use zone drawings to identify at-risk areas. For example, if the sprinkler system in Zone 1 has automatically been activated, you can look at the zone drawing to determine the exact area of the floor that might have a fire. Similarly, you can consult the zone drawings to see at-risk areas within a zone.  

To see zone and other building information, you work with the Egress Plan and Hazardous Material Plan tasks. From these tasks, you can set the drawing to display zone and other information by working with the Information to Display panel. From this panel, located in the bottom left area, you can toggle the drawing between displaying the various types of building zone information, as well as an equipment plan and a room plan.

To see zone and other floor information:

  1. On the Process Navigator, select First Responders, and then select View Hazardous Material Plan or View Egress Plan.
  2. The system lists the buildings and floors in the left panels. Select a building from the top left pane, and then select a floor within this building.
  3. In the Information to Display panel, choose one of the following types of information to display:
  4. The system displays the floor plan drawing, with the selected information, in the right pane.
  5. Beneath the drawing, the system displays key data corresponding to the displayed information in the drawing.
  6. As necessary, continue to display other types of information by using the options in the Information to Display panel.