Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the Duluth East High Pop Concert in the Harborside Ballroom at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. My son was taking part as a member of the ninth grade band. Toward the conclusion of the show, a fire alarm sounded and the entire room evacuated.
The alarm apparently was a prank, but it presented a challenge to my family as our son uses a very heavy motorized wheelchair and Harborside Ballroom is on the third floor of the building. Two strapping young men, one wearing a Notre Dame jacket, offered assistance as we weighed our options, assuming the elevator would be inoperable. Everything worked out OK; we left the chair on the third floor, and my husband carried our son down the stairs. We couldn't thank those two young men enough for their concern and their willingness to help.
But the incident raised a number of questions. What is a person in a wheelchair expected to do in such a dilemma? What if a chair's occupant weighed 250 pounds and could not fend on his or her own? What if there were no able-bodied people willing to help? What if there were 50 people in wheelchairs? And, in the event of a real emergency in a multi-level public area, what evacuation plan is in place?
I am pleased more places are accessible to people with disabilities, but are signs advising us to "not use elevators in case of fire" really the best we can do?
Mary Jackson
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Duluth
