Emergency preparedness is a critical component of operating an assisted living facility. Unlike many other occupancy types, assisted living communities often serve residents with varying levels of mobility and cognitive impairments, making evacuation more complex during an emergency. As a result, evacuation planning is not simply an operational consideration. It is a key factor that influences building design, fire protection features, and overall life safety strategy that may not otherwise be prescribed by code minimum requirements.
Understanding The Phased Evacuation Approach
Residents of assisted living facilities generally require some level of verbal or physical assistance during an evacuation. Because of these population characteristics, a full-building evacuation may not always be the safest or most practical response to an emergency.
To address this challenge, many assisted living facilities utilize a phased evacuation approach that allows occupants to be relocated away from the immediate hazard while remaining within the building. The International Building Code (IBC) supports this strategy through smoke compartmentation requirements for Group I-1 Condition 2 occupancies. These smoke compartments help limit the spread of smoke and provide protected areas that support the movement of residents during an emergency.
Design Considerations for Assisted Living Facilities
A phased evacuation strategy requires more than smoke barriers alone. Fire alarm, notification, and fire protection systems must be designed to support how the building is expected to function during an emergency. Early coordination between the operator, AHJ, architect, code consultant, and design team is essential to ensure evacuation procedures align with the building’s fire protection and life safety code features.
When evacuation planning is considered early in the design process, project teams are better positioned to create solutions that support resident safety while meeting operational goals. Delaying these discussions can result in challenges that affect building layout, system design, and overall project coordination.
How Code Red Consultants Can Help
Code Red Consultants partners with operators, architects, design teams, and authorities having jurisdiction to establish a coordinated approach to fire protection and life safety codes for assisted living facilities and other care-related occupancies. Our team helps align building design, fire protection systems, facility operations, and emergency preparedness around a shared understanding of resident capabilities, staffing and operational procedures, evacuation strategies, and applicable code requirements. By bringing these stakeholders together early in the process, we help identify and resolve potential gaps between how a facility is designed, how it will operate, and how occupants will be protected during an emergency. This integrated approach allows project teams to develop practical, code-compliant solutions that prioritize resident safety while supporting operational needs and overall project goals.