Explain rescue hardware

Resolution:

APPLICATION

Rescue hardware is used on in-swinging bathroom doors in facilities where there is a higher likelihood that someone might fall against the door inside a bathroom, preventing the door from being opened to aid the person inside. Rescue hardware is typically used in hospitals, nursing homes, and sometimes doctors’ offices. Under normal operation, the door opens into the bathroom, but if someone falls against the door and blocks it, rescue hardware allows the door to swing out of the bathroom.

FRAME

Rescue hardware requires a certain type of frame.  A cased frame, one with no stop, is used so that the door can be both in-swinging and out-swinging.  The frame can be one of two standard depths: 5 ¾” or 6 ¾”.

DOOR TYPE

A particular style of door is also required. Because the door must be able to swing in both directions, there must be an accommodation for clearance between the door and the frame. Therefore, the heel edge (hinge end) of the door is normally radiused.

HANGING THE DOOR

So that the door can swing in both directions, a center hung pivot must be used. The door can be placed in the center of the cased opening, or it can be offset.

CLOSER OR OVERHEAD STOP USED

If a closer or overhead stop is desired, a double-acting concealed unit is typically used in this application, since the door with rescue hardware is normally in-swinging but must become out-swinging on occasion.

RESCUE HARDWARE COMPONENTS

Ives rescue hardware consists of 2 satin stainless steel components.

The first component is a double lip strike which protects the complete frame for both in-swinging and out-swinging action of the door.  There are two strike lengths, depending on the depth of the frame.  The strike also has a pocket which receives the latch bolt of the lockset. The strike pocket can be centered or offset in the strike, depending on whether the door is centered or offset in the frame. 

The second rescue hardware component is an emergency stop.  In ordinary use, this element serves as the stop for the door to rest against when in the closed position.  In emergency situations, there is a lever on the stop that is depressed to cause the complete stop mechanism to retract into the frame. The door can then be used in a double acting mode. To cause the stop to re-extend, the lever is depressed again.

Both rescue hardware components can be ordered as one integrated unit, or the components can be ordered as two separate items, with one component mounted above the other on the frame.

LOCKSET USED

The choice of lockset to be used is an important one. Typically, rescue hardware is used with a cylindrical lockset (with or without dead latching). With a cylindrical lock and a typical door gap, the strike pocket is large enough to allow the dead latching trigger to fall into the pocket, allowing the latch bolt to be depressed to open the door.

If a mortise lockset is used, it must be a type with no dead latching. If the mortise lock has dead latching, when the dead latching trigger is depressed against the strike when the door is closed, it does not allow the main latch bolt to be depressed.  The main latch bolt must be able to be depressed to roll out of the strike pocket in the case of an emergency.