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Evacuation and Shelter-in-Place Training > Incident Commanders
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KEY POINT

Black checkmarkKnow Incident and Community-specific factors that affect evacuation and SIP decisions

ICs must consider all these factors:

  1. Public preparedness. If the public is trained they will be able to execute an order.
  2. Chemical characteristics. The toxicity, reactivity and physical state of a hazardous material determines how dangerous it is to the population.
  3. Time of release. A release that occurs in a residential neighborhood at midmorning on a weekday may threaten far fewer people than one that occurs at midnight when most people are in their homes sleeping.
  4. Weather conditions. Rain can help “knock down” a plume while wind can disperse one.
  5. Population density. A evacuation can lead to gridlock in densely populated areas.
  6. Other considerations include: terrain; ingress/egress; routes of travel; topographical conditions; modes of transportation available; condition of people affected (ambulatory or non-ambulatory); and so on.
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