Development of an Evacuation Device that Enables Persons in Wheelchairs to Descend Stairs

Abstract

Many residents of elderly facilities such as dementia group homes and special elderly nursing homes require evacuation with assistance during a fire, and the number of caregivers is often limited. The purpose of this study is to develop an evacuation device that enables evacuation using the stairs for wheelchair users living on the second and higher floors in elderly facilities and welfare facilities with assistance by just one caregiver and without the use of an electric motor. The developed machine was provided with a structure that includes a carriage that supports driving, braking, overall load, and a backrest frame that holds and fixes the wheelchair and is operated by a caregiver. A staircase descent experiment was conducted and the results showed that the total operation time was 92.18 seconds on average, which almost achieved the target time of 90 seconds. The result of a questionnaire survey showed that respondents had positive opinions on the necessity of equipment that can evacuate persons in wheelchairs by descending stairs and some said they need to introduce such equipment into their facilities. The lock of the developed machine was improved, which reduced the wheelchair mounting process time by an average of 9.88 seconds. The total operation time was 49.42 seconds on average, which made it possible for the evacuation time to be conducted in under one minute. Further improvements will be carried out leading to greater practical use.