Exercise HEPHAESTUS II, 2025: Evacuation of a building during an earthquake and fire scenario involving persons with disabilities

About

The European Centre for Forest Fires (ECFF) of the Council of Europe/EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection (GSCP) of the Hellenic Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, together with the Greek National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities and the Institute of National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases (ESAmeA/IN-ESAmeA) will co-organise an Evacuation Exercise at the end of October 2025 to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in disaster prevention and preparedness actions, thereby enhancing community resilience. This exercise is a follow-up to the inclusive evacuation table-top exercise conducted in 2023 in Athens, which provided valuable lessons on multi-stakeholder coordination and the practical implementation of accessibility and universal design in emergency response.

Specifically, "EXERCISE HEPHAESTUS II, 2025 through dedicated drills will address:

• The importance of prevention and preparedness for all, especially persons with disabilities, in the face of potential disasters;
• The need for the co-creation of evacuation and contingency plans together with the representative organisations of persons with disabilities;
• The importance of developing evacuation procedures that fully integrate the principles of accessibility and universal design;
• The critical role of personal emergency evacuation plans/action plans for all as a core element of inclusive disaster preparedness;
• The need for targeted training of first responders to effectively support persons with disabilities in emergencies.