Evac chair

An evac or evacuation chair is a special chair that is intended for use in an emergency situation.

The evac chair is strong but lightweight chair that can be used to carry an injured or disabled person out of a building either, if they have sustained an injury, or if the building has become unsafe and needs to be evacuated quickly.

Chairs of this kind have been used by emergency services and they have rescued many people after terror attacks, earthquakes and other disaster and emergency situations.

Most evac chairs are foldable and they are designed for function rather than for comfort. This means that they do not have padded seats or any provision for luxury. Instead they have a design that minimises their width, overall size and weight and makes them as transportable as possible in narrow and restricted spaces.

One of the general assumptions of an evac chair's use is that there will be panic and obstructions in most situations where they are employed. This is one of the reasons why they are so narrow and lightweight.

Evac chairs come in two forms

A basic evac chair is one that is carried, normally by two people, one supporting the front and one supporting the back of the chair during carriage.

However, there are special evac chairs that have designs intended to allow them to be used to negotiate stairs with the intention of only a single helper directing rather than carrying) the chair. Evac chairs of this type have innovative designs that use clever mechanisms or multiple wheel combinations to transcend stairs.

If you are considering purchasing an evac chair you need to refer to the Health and Safety legislation of your country, state, or region to make sure that the product that you are considering complies with any legal requirements.

Legal requirements

Any chair that you keep within your premises will need to comply with all your national Health and Safety regulations.

Most national Health and Safety regulations require that there be designated operators of these chairs who have completed a recognised course in their use.

Depending upon the nation in which you reside, it may be a legal requirement to include the above information (including the names of the appropriate personnel) in the company Health and Safety documentation.

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