Working out Endeavour's interior deck plan has sparked a debate about the value of an escape pod system, to be used as a last resort.
Technically the concept raises a number of issues. Requiring dozens of apertures in the hull for pod launch would seriously compromise hull - particularly armour - integrity. It's for this reason that (with limited exceptions) there are no plans for even exterior windows on the ship. Grouping pods with a single launch point might be an acceptable compromise between cutting holes in the hull, at the expense of increased evacuation time.
But probably the biggest issue with escape pods is the lack of rescue options. The ISDC will not have another starship capable of reaching a disaster area, severely delaying any rescue response even if one could be mounted. This would likely be beyond the survival capacity of a life pod (level 2 environmental containment), unless they were made prohibitively large. So unless the escape pods are able to make it to the surface of a conveniently located habitable planet, an escape pod would simply delay the inevitable.
The approach currently being considered is to equip crew accommodation as emergency shelter with independent life-support capability (level 3 environmental containment). The pod architecture of accommodation design lends itself well to this approach and survival capacity would be significantly longer than with a pod. Although this assumes the damage to the ship is not catastrophic.
What do you think?