Emergency
Pull Cards

Red emergency pull cords and the cards that accompany them are a necessity when it comes to the design of accessible lavatory facilities.

Picture yourself as a mobility-impaired wheelchair user. Nature calls, so you head to a lavatory. Upon navigating to a toilet, you then experience a fall and are unable to independently lift yourself from the ground. The door is locked shut, and there’s nobody else in the lavatory. Scenarios like this are an unfortunate reality faced by disabled people every day.

It is important, therefore, to provide red emergency pull cords, so that disabled people can pull them and call for assistance. Cords must be sufficient in length, extending to the floor so that anyone can reach them. The intention then is that pulling these cords will alert wardens via an alarm system that is connected to the cord, and this is where the cards come in.

Emergency Pull Cards act as a larger, more graspable item for people in these emergency situations, but they also provide information about the cord’s purpose to both non-disabled and disabled people who use disabled toilets.

Sadly, many public and private toilets across the country still do not offer emergency cords and cards. It is an unfair reality when toilet facilities are surely one of the most basic and fundamental tools for human function. For this reason, Direct Access is proud to raise awareness and offer our own downloadable/printable cards free of charge.

We would implore anyone who has use for them to set up a functional alarm system accessed via a red cord to accompany our cards, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (“Facilities being offered must provide equal access to toilets for disabled customers/visitors and employees, to the same standard as non-disabled people”).

Any and all Direct Access clients are entitled to a free plastic card.

Click the corresponding link to download full-size versions of our prints:

Emergency Pull Card (Front)

Emergency Pull Card (Back)