Did someone say gas leak?

Yes and no. Yes there was gas, but it wasn't due to a "leak." A brilliant young scientist in the chemistry lab thought it would be hilarious to turn on the gas at his lab station while the chemistry teacher was otherwise engaged. This awesome joke went unnoticed from first period into second period until several people noticed the smell of gas.

Our emergency preparedness plan sprang into action as the principal announced over the intercom, "Fire! Evacuate the building! Fire!" Simple fire drill evacuation, right? Not quite. In this class period I happen to have a young lady, Suzie, who is nearly six feet tall and relies on a heavy duty power wheelchair to get around. I'm thinking, "no problem the emergency exit will have a safety ramp." Wrong.

As my class files out of the emergency exit I'm left with Suzie and a few stragglers. The exit has a ledge with a seven inch drop between the ledge and the sidewalk. Suzie takes one look at the edge and says, "I ain't goin down there" and I'm thinking "I know you smell the gas. You can either come out this way, or you can stay in the building and die." Of course I didn't actually say this to her, but at the same time I knew there was no easy was to get her out of the building.

First, Suzie tried to drive off the ledge, but that didn't work out. Then, another brilliant teacher suggested that we carry the power chair + Suzie from the ledge onto the sidewalk. So the wheelchair rescue mission team (3 teachers + 2 students) lifted the power chair and inched it over to the sidewalk. Rescue mission success? Not quite. The base of the wheelchair pulled away from the seat and slid into the grass. The wheelchair rescue mission team then lifted Suzie out of her seat and sat her in the grass.

The wheelchair rescue mission team then reassembled the wheelchair, lifted six foot Suzie back into her chair, and continued on with the fire drill evacuation. All of that only took about seven minutes. Thankfully no brilliant young scientists wondered what would happen if they lit a match in a hallway filled with noxious gas.

Well, in the case of an emergency, don't be handicapped.

The struggle is real.