An emergency evacuation is an immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property.

Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm or fire to the large-scale evacuation of a city because of a flood, bombardment or approaching weather system, especially a tropical cyclone. In situations involving hazardous materials or possible contamination, evacuees may be decontaminated prior to being transported out of the contaminated area. Evacuation planning is an important aspect to mitigate the impact of disasters on humans. Today there many evacuation models to simulate this process for small-scale and large-scale situations.

Evacuations may be carried out before, during, or after disasters such as:

Emergency evacuation plans are developed to ensure the safest and most efficient evacuation time of all expected residents of a structure, city, or region. A benchmark "evacuation time" for different hazards and conditions is established. These benchmarks can be established through using best practices, regulations, or using simulations, such as modeling the flow of people in a building, to determine the benchmark. Proper planning will use multiple exits, contra-flow lanes, and special technologies to ensure full, fast and complete evacuation. Consideration for personal situations which may affect an individual's ability to evacuate is taken into account, including alarm signals that use both aural and visual alerts, and also evacuation equipment such as sleds, pads, and chairs for non-ambulatory people.

Considering the persons with a disability during an emergency evacuation is important. This is because it is crucial that every user gets out of the building or to a safe place in the building, thus also the persons with disabilities or the non- ambulatory people. Regulations such as building codes can be used to minimize the negative consequences of the threat triggering the evacuation and optimize the need to self-evacuate without causing panic. Proper planning which covers designated actions to ensure the safety of the users in emergencies, will implement an all-hazards approach so that plans can be reused for multiple hazards that could exist. A Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) formulates a specific evacuation plan catering for the needs of an individual with mobility, sensory or other disabilities which may impact on their ability to leave a property in the event of an evacuation.

Therefore, key elements for emergency planning and preparedness are early warnings for the people inside the building by emergency helpers but also voice assistance, facilities to leave the building safe and fast, such as exit routes and good evacuation practices. The evacuation managing team must know what to do in emergency situations and which actions to take.

The sequence of an evacuation can be divided into the following phases:

The time for the first four phases is usually called pre-movement time.