Intel donates evacuation chairs to Kildare schools and community organisations

Eleven county Kildare schools, clubs and community organisations took up an offer from Intel to take delivery of free evacuation chairs which can be used in emergencies. 

"At Intel, safety for everyone is our top priority and our team will take every measure to ensure the safety of all those working at our campus. One of those measures is to ensure that we have evacuation chairs available for use in the event of emergency, such as a fire. An evacuation chair is designed to allow a person with impaired mobility to be transported down stairs," said the company, which has a plant near Leixlip.

"The Intel Emergency Response Team recently assessed there to be a surplus of evacuation chairs available at our Leixlip site, and, instead of moving them into storage, we reached out to local community organisations and our local town councillors in an effort to donate the surplus chairs.

"We got a number of responses, with many local schools and community centres having a need for the chairs. In total, 11 evacuation chairs have been donated to St. Mary’s Boys’ National School in Maynooth, The Mill Community Centre in Celbridge, Maynooth Educate Together, Technological University Dublin (TUD), Gaelscoil Uí Fhiaich in Maynooth, Presentation Girls School in Maynooth and the Dara Community Living whose services are mainly provided in the Co. Kildare area.

"Evacuation chairs have proven to be vital in the evacuation of people who may have impaired mobility, allowing for smooth evacuation in multi-storey buildings as they are designed with safety buckles and a sling style seat to ensure there is no sudden shift in weight when evacuating downstairs. They also feature friction belts to ensure there is no sudden acceleration of the chair when descending the stairs. The evacuation chairs can be wall mounted in locations that make them easily accessible and readily available in emergencies."