Emergency evacuation plans for students with disabilities

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

An individual emergency evacuation plan says how one student with a disability will get out of the building, shelter or lock down safely. It names the student's needs, the route, the trained adults and backups, equipment, how the student is alerted and calmed, and medical items. The school safety team reviews it, and the student practices it in every drill.

A schoolwide emergency plan assumes students can hear the alarm, understand it, walk to the exit and stay with the class. Many students with disabilities cannot do one or more of those things without help. An individual plan fills the gap for one student. It works only if the people named in it know it, the equipment is where the plan says, and the student has practiced.

Section 504 and ADA Title II bar disability discrimination in school programs, and districts treat safety planning as part of giving students with disabilities equal access to school.^[1] ^[2] Your state fire code, district policy and local fire marshal set the building rules, so build each plan with the school safety team, not alone.

Who needs an individual plan

Consider one for any student who:

uses a wheelchair, walker or crutches, or tires on stairs;
is blind, has low vision, or is deaf or hard of hearing;
may not understand or follow spoken directions in an emergency;
may run, freeze, drop to the floor or become very upset with alarms or crowds;
has a medical need that cannot wait, such as diabetes, seizures, severe allergy or oxygen;
has a temporary injury, such as a broken leg.

The fill-in template

Copy this into your district form or use it as is. Fill in every line, or write "none."

Section	Fill in
Student	Name, grade, photo, homeroom, schedule by period with room numbers
Needs during an emergency	Mobility; vision; hearing; communication; understanding; behavior; medical
How the student is alerted	Alarm only, visual strobe, a staff member, a vibrating device, a picture card
Evacuation route for each room	Exit used, stairs or ramp, the designated area of refuge if stairs are needed
Primary adult and backups	Name and role for each period; at least two backups
Equipment	Wheelchair, evacuation chair, headphones, communication board, medication bag; where each is kept
How to give directions	Short words, signs, pictures, touch cues, what not to do
Calming and safety steps	What helps; what to do if the student runs, freezes or drops
Medical	Medicines and supplies to bring; link to the health or emergency care plan
Shelter in place and lockdown	Where the student goes; how to keep the student quiet or calm; supplies
Reunification	How the student gets to the family meeting point; who has release contacts
Practice	How often the student practices with each drill; who records it
Training	Who is trained, on what, by when
Review	Date written; review dates; who signed (family, case manager, nurse, administrator, safety lead)

A completed example

This is a fictional plan for a fictional student.

Student: Marcus, grade 8. Uses a manual wheelchair. Reads and follows directions at grade level. Has asthma with an inhaler. Second-floor science lab in period 3; all other classes on the first floor.

Needs: cannot use stairs; needs help on the ramp at the east exit if it is icy; may need his inhaler with smoke or dust.

Alerting: hears the alarm. No added alert needed.

Routes:

Location	Route	Notes
First-floor classes	Nearest ground exit, ramp at east door	Takes about 2 minutes from the farthest room
Period 3, room 214	Area of refuge at the north stairwell landing	Two-way call box there; staff calls the office with location
If evacuation chair is used	Two trained adults bring him down the north stairs	Chair stored in the north stairwell; wheelchair brought down after

Adults: period 3: science teacher (primary), para from room 210 (backup 1), assistant principal (backup 2). Other periods: classroom teacher (primary), nearest trained staff (backup).

Equipment: evacuation chair in north stairwell; inhaler in his backpack and a spare in the nurse's go-bag.

Directions: "Marcus, north stairwell, now." He knows the plan and can explain it.

Medical: inhaler goes with him. The nurse checks breathing at the meeting point. The full asthma plan is on file with the nurse.

Shelter and lockdown: stays in the room away from windows, with the class. No changes needed.

Practice: takes part in every fire drill. Once per semester, the evacuation chair is practiced with him and the two trained adults during a planned drill, at his request.

Training: 4 staff trained on the evacuation chair by September 15; refresher in January.

Review: written August 28; reviewed after the first drill and at the annual IEP review. Signed by Marcus, his mother, the case manager, the nurse and the assistant principal, who leads the safety team.

Section notes: what reviewers and families look for

Every room on the schedule. A plan that covers homeroom but not the music room or cafeteria is a common gap. List each location.
Backups by name. One trained adult is a single point of failure. Name at least two backups for each period.
Areas of refuge are not the end of the plan. Say who reports the student's location and how. Fire responders need to know where to go.
Equipment that is real. Check that the evacuation chair, headphones or communication board is where the plan says, and that someone checks it each term.
Directions the student understands. For a student who uses AAC or picture supports, add the emergency symbols to the device or a card on the wheelchair or lanyard. The behavior crisis plan template has ideas for students who may run or freeze.
Lockdowns, not only fires. Lockdown is often harder. A student who vocalizes when anxious may need noise-reducing headphones, a calming item or a quiet task in the lockdown spot. Plan it.
The student's voice. Older students should help write the plan and know it well enough to tell a substitute what to do.
Health links. For medical needs, attach the nurse's emergency care plan.^[3] See health plan vs IEP for how the plans fit together.

Practice: include the student in every drill

Leaving a student out of drills "to be safe" means the first real practice is the emergency. Include the student in every drill with the supports in the plan. Record each one: date, drill type, time to the meeting point or refuge area, what went well and what to fix. A student who took 9 minutes in September and 4 minutes in November is showing that practice works. A drill that reveals a blocked ramp is a drill that did its job.

For students who need to learn the steps, an IEP goal can help. Safety skill goals are in safety behavior goals and community safety goals. A task analysis on the task analysis data sheet works well for multi-step routines like a lockdown.

Where the plan lives

The plan can be attached to the IEP, a 504 plan or a health plan, or kept as a separate document that the IEP refers to. The IEP team must consider behavior and communication needs when it writes the IEP,^[4] and both often drive evacuation needs. Wherever it lives, copies go to the safety team, the front office, every teacher on the schedule, substitute folders and the nurse.

Coordination with the school safety team

Share the list of students with individual plans with the safety team before the first drill.
Mark areas of refuge and the students who may use them on the building map the safety team gives responders.
Ask the safety lead to review each plan after the first drill and after any change in schedule, room or health.
Include the plans in substitute training and in the fall staff safety briefing.

To keep the IEP side organized, the IEP at a glance template is a good place to note that a plan exists and where it is kept. For the plan as a whole, see what an IEP is, and for health-related 504 plans, 504 plan examples. This page is printable with no sign-up. Rules vary by state and district, so check local fire and safety codes.

Frequently asked questions

Who writes an emergency evacuation plan for a student with a disability?

Usually the case manager or 504 coordinator writes it with the family, the student, the school nurse and the school safety lead. The safety team checks routes and equipment against the building plan and local fire rules.

Should a student with a disability skip fire drills?

No. Leaving a student out of drills means the first practice is a real emergency. Include the student in every drill with the supports in the plan, and record what worked and what needs fixing.

Does the evacuation plan have to be part of the IEP?

It can be attached to the IEP, a 504 plan or a health plan, or kept as a separate document the IEP refers to. What matters most is that every adult named in it has a copy and has been trained.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

34 CFR Part 104: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance, eCFR (National Archives)
28 CFR Part 35: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services, eCFR (National Archives)
NASN Position Statement: Individualized Healthcare Plans (IHPs), Promoting Health and Learning for Students With Complex Needs (2025), National Association of School Nurses, Journal of School Nursing, via PubMed
34 CFR §300.324: Development, review, and revision of IEP, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.