A series of articles on dealing with emergencies."Exit strategies" reports on the findings of new research into the World Trade Center disaster from the Building Disaster Assessment Group. "Human touch" discusses the need for fire engineers to consider human behaviour when developing evacuation strategies "A question of use" reports on the use of fire extinguishers to fight fires in commercial premises. "Health plans" discusses the provision of evacuation management plans in the National Health Service. "Early warning" talks about the role of early detection as a component in fire prevention strategy. "On the beam" considers the issues when specifying and installing beam smoke detectors. "Safety to a fault" talks about the importance of fault-free detection and alarm systems. "Voice of experience" examines the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the uses of sounder design.