It is possible that the stairwell qualifies as a "place of refuge" as defined by the ADA. If that is the case, then the kids weren't, at least technically, "abandoned".
I'm not sure how I *feel* about the situation (my inclination would be to have a designated adult stay with them).
As I understand it (and I am not an expert), an ADA-qualified "place of refuge" is a location inside a multi-story building, usually but not always a stairwell, which meets certain requirements for size and fire protection.
One would have hoped that 9/11 might have done more to bring more awareness to the problem that, by and large, most buildings with more than one floor are only wheelchair accesible unless or until there is some emergency where using an elevator is not an option - one would hope but one would be disappointed...
So now I have to wonder what their plan is if someone should oh... say... fall... and be rendered unable to move under their own power during an evacuation - leave the injured in the stairwell with the disabled...? Yeah, that's a good plan...
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 02:54 am (UTC)I'm not sure how I *feel* about the situation (my inclination would be to have a designated adult stay with them).
no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 04:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 05:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 03:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 04:27 am (UTC)To use <lj user="featherynscale">'s phrase
Date: 2005-01-07 05:55 am (UTC)